


Her Second Chance

by WritingWeirdo



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Angst, Ballet, Dancing, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Music, Secrets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:35:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 36
Words: 48,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26908228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingWeirdo/pseuds/WritingWeirdo
Summary: Leila was an honorary and almost official member of Sunset Curve however she was more than that, she was a dancer unlike her brother, Alex. She was there that night, in the crowd waiting for her boys to go on stage when they never did she went to Bobby where she found out they were gone.After their deaths, she was a wreck to say the least. She didn't want anything to do with music, she wouldn't even play music when she danced. Eventually she got herself kicked out of her home and lived on the streets until Luke's parents found her and took her in. The day she died, a year after her brother, she was on her way to look at an apartment. She was finally getting her life together and then she died. It was a blur for Leila, she didn't know how she died all she knew was one second she was in the ambulance, machines announcing her death, and the next she was in a dark room where she stayed for a while before appearing in an alley way.Leila got her second chance not when she appeared in the alley but when she found out that her boys were back.
Relationships: Alex (Julie and The Phantoms) & Original Female Character(s), Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 123





	1. 𝚕𝚎𝚒𝚕𝚊 𝚓𝚊𝚌𝚘𝚋𝚜

Name: Leila Hazel Jacobs 

Looks: Blonde hair, green eyes, 5"4

Portrayed By: Chloë Grace Moretz

Age: 18

D.O.B: April 16th, 1977

Death: 1996

Personality: kind, loyal, shy, generous, intelligent, observant and creative

Likes: Playing piano and acoustic guitar, singing, dancing, being unique,

Dislikes: being ordinary, being forgotten, being alone, the unknown, liars, lying, and bullies

Hobbies: Dancing, singing, playing piano and guitar

Family: Alexander Jacobs (twin brother), Hazel Jacobs (mother), Edward Jacobs (father), Layla Jacobs (grandmother, deceased)

Friends: Alex, Luke, Reggie, and Jasper

Bio:

Hello I'm Leila, Leila Jacobs, twin sister of Alex Jacobs from Sunset Curve. Unlike my brother, I'm a dancer however that doesn't mean I dont like music. I love music, in fact I sing, play piano and acoustic guitar. The boys tried to get me to join Sunset Curve but Bobby, the fourth member of their band and the only one I was never friends with, didn't want me to join and thanks to him being in the band I didn't want to join either. Besides, my parents would never allow it, they barely let me do dance.

After they died, I was a wreck. I stopped playing music, stopped listening to music, I stopped living. My parents kicked me out after they found me doing something they didn't agree with and I lived on the streets for a couple of months before Luke's parents took me in. Just as I was about to get my own apartment and get my life together, I died. I wasn't exactly sure how it happened, it was all a blur to me but next thing I knew I was no longer in the ambulance or the dark room I was stuck in for a while, I was in an alleyway, lost and confused and so alone.

A/N: Since it hasn't been announced what Alex's last name is or his parents name I just picked Jacobs and Hazel and Edward, if it is announced what the real names are I will change it but for now it's Jacobs, Hazel and Edward okay?


	2. 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝

**Chloë Grace Coretz**

**as**

**Leila**

" _You must've been so..."_

_"Alone? I was. But it's okay cause I'm not alone anymore."_

**Jordan Fisher**

**as**

**Jasper**

  
" _You're here! How are you here?"_

_"I died, Leila."_

**Owen Joyner**

**as**

**Alex**

" _I swear Leila you will never be alone again."_

**Charlie Gillespie**

**as**

**Luke**

" _I'm really glad you're here Leila."_

**Jeremy Shada**

**as**

**Reggie**

" _I should have been there."_

**Madison Reyes**

**as**

**Julie**

" _So you're the Leila. I'm glad you're here, they've missed you a lot."_

**The Rest Of The Cast**

**as**

**Their Characters**


	3. 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚛

I do not own Julie and The Phantoms or any of the songs from the show used in this fanfiction. This is purely fanfiction, the show belongs to the respected owners.

I only own Leila, Jasper, and any other original characters I make in this story.

This fanfiction is also posted on wattpad under writingWeirdo1226


	4. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎

**♪ 𝙻𝚎𝚒𝚕𝚊'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪**

I ran out of the house as fast as possible, not looking back once as tears fell from my eyes, blurring my vision but I had been there enough not to need to really see where I was going, it was instinct at that point.

Moments later I arrived at the studio. Loud music could be heard from far away as I walked up the doors, trying to wipe away the tears as much as possible although they would know anyway, and banged on the doors loudly. The music disappeared and I could hear the familiar sound of pounding footsteps as someone came to answer the door.

The door slid open not a minute later to reveal Luke.

His face turned from annoyance from being interrupted to concern and confusion the second he saw me and took in my appearance. "Leila!" He stated with wide eyes, behind him I could hear the other boys, Bobby, Alex, and Reggie, asking questions to each other about why I was there and what was going on however I ignored them.

"Hey." I spoke nervously, shifting on my feet as I offered a hesitant smile. "Can I come in?"

Luke nodded immediately, "Of course Leila, come in." He told me however he didn't step back, he quickly realized this and stepped back so I could come in with a quiet "Oh right."

I chuckled and stepped in, the other boys turned to me, Alex and Reggie's eyes widened with concern as Bobby sighed and turned away uninterested. We've never gotten along and we both hated each other and knew it as well as knew the sky was blue.

"What happened?" Alex asked as he approached me worriedly.

I shook my head, "I couldn't stay there, Alex, I couldn't listen to them anymore," tears continued to fall down my face as I spoke, unable to hold it in in front of my twin. "I couldn't do it anymore and I didn't know where else to go." I choked back a sob as Alex brought me into his arms, catching me before I could collapse onto the floor like I felt I would.

"It's alright, Leila, I've got you, you're safe." Alex whispered softly as he held me close.

I heard footsteps approaching us as I buried my head into his shoulder, ignoring the world as I drowned in my brother's welcoming embrace. "You're always welcome here Leila. You're family." Luke's voice spoke softly as he wrapped his arms around me as well, joining the hug.

Before I knew it Reggie had joined as well and with all my boys holding me close, I felt at peace. Safe for the first time since Alex left home.

**♪𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢♪**

When I woke up on Luke's pull out couch, the boys sprawled out by my sides, I was reluctant to get up. I didn't want to move and have this all disappear, but I had to.

I glanced at a nearby clock, my eyes widening as the time as I jumped up, scrambling over Luke and Alex, who were on my right side, as I rushed to get off the bed. I then went over to a mirror and quickly brushed my hair out with my fingers so it didn't look too bad, I then took the hair tie I had used last night to put my hair in a ponytail which had become disheveled and loose after sleeping in it all night, and did another better ponytail before using the hair tie on my wrist to put my hair into a bun.

"Leila." Alex called tiredly I hummed as I looked over my outfit; loose blue jeans that flared at the ankles, and a gray sweater. They were not dancing clothes that were for sure, the jeans would do since they were my only options however I needed to find another shirt. Maybe the boys had something here... "What are you doing up?" Alex asked from behind me.

"I have dance in fifteen minutes." I answered as I went over to their clothes and rummaged through them to find something, anything, that I could wear to dance.

Reggie let out a groan, "Come back to bed Leila." He whined, a blush came to my face as I forced myself not to look back, his morning voice was enough to make me blush if I saw his morning hair and his bare chest I might just faint.

"I can't miss dance, Reg." I told him as I grabbed one of Alex's shirt, looking it over before nodding in acceptance, it would do.

"It's six in the morning, Leila." Alex whined as he got off the bed.

"Yeah and?" I replied going up to the bathroom to change without them seeing anything.

"It's too early." Luke piped up in a whine.

I rolled my eyes, "Not everyone gets up at eight, Luke." I told him as I slipped off the sweater and put on the shirt. It was a plain baby blue t-shirt and was far too big on me but that was alright. I could dance in it that was all that mattered.

With a nod to myself, I exited the bathroom to find the boys sitting on the edge of the pull-out couch with tired faces, luckily for me, Reggie had pulled on the shirt he had taken off when it got too hot last night. "Can you even dance in that?" Alex questioned suspiciously as he looked over my outfit.

I shrugged. It wouldn't feel too good and I wouldn't be able to do as much but I had to dance, I couldn't skip even just one practice before my big performance. "It'll work."

"You won't hurt yourself, right?" Reggie asked in concern as he stood up.

I shied away, it was a possibility, it was always a possibility however it did grow with these clothes. "I can always hurt myself dancing." I answered.

"It won't hurt you to miss one practice, Lee." Reggie told me as he stepped closer to me, his concern clear in his voice.

I spun around, irritated with everything. "Yes, it will Reginald. I have the biggest performance of my life in three weeks and if I miss even one practice I miss an opportunity to get better and I may lose my spot in the performance and that performance may get me a scholarship." I rambled sending him a glare, "So no I can't just miss a practice." I finished as I walked away and grabbed my shoes that I had thrown off the night before, quickly slipping them on and tying them.

"Leila." Reggie called softly.

I shook my head as I straightened up, finished tying my shoelaces, "I have to go Reg." I stressed to him.

He nodded, "I know, I'm sorry I just don't want you to get hurt." Reggie told me.

I sighed, "No I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped." I replied, "I'll be back after dance." I told them before I left the studio and walked off, not wanting to be late.

I have to go, I told myself as I walked away wishing I could stay there with them all day.

**♪𝟷,𝟸𝟶𝟸 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪**

Hey weirdos! Here's the first chapter of Her Second Chance this is set two weeks before their performance at the Orpheum, as the dates change (by weeks) I'll put them like Two Weeks before The Orpheum, etc. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and if you do please be sure to...

Vote,

Comment,

And...

Be a weirdo! Buh bye! ❤️❤️


	5. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚘

**♪ 𝙻𝚎𝚒𝚕𝚊'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪**

I slid the studio doors open as I approached with my gym bag. Luckily, I had left some proper clothes at the dance studio in my locker along with a pair of pointe shoes, they were worn unlike the new ones I had at the house but they worked. I had completely forgotten I even had those there so I was extremely relieved when I saw them there.

The practice had gone well, Jasper, my best friend, had offered to hang out with me afterward but nobody at the dance studio knew of my... situations and I wanted to keep it like that so I declined and went back to the studio alone.

When I walked into the studio I found Luke sitting on the couch with his songbook, no doubt writing a new song, Reggie was strumming some chords on his guitar and Alex was by his drums doing... something.

"I'm back." I called as I walked in, tossing my bag down with a thump as it hit the floor.

The boys paused what they were doing to look at me, "Hey Leila." They chorused.

"How was practice?" Luke asked as he set down his songbook.

I shrugged, "Fine." I replied as I sat down on the couch, I untied my shoes and winced as I slid them off my feet, my socks were still on and I almost wanted to leave them on as the sores on my feet hurt. The injuries to the feet were familiar and didn't bug me too much anymore however I wasn't used to walking all the way home so they ached a bit more. Not wanting to keep the dirty socks on longer than I had to, I reluctantly took them off, wincing as I did.

"Woah." Alex said, setting down his drumsticks before he approached me, "What happened to your feet?" He questions furrowing his brows in concern.

I looked at him in genuine confusion, "What do you mean?" Hasn't he seen my feet after practice before?

"That." Alex said gesturing to my feet.

"Oh, that's nothing." I told him as I stood up, the ache of my feet returning to a dull ache I was more used to.

Reggie set down his guitar with wide eyes as he rushed over to me as if I needed help, "Should you even be walking right now?"

I chuckled, "I'm fine Reg. Haven't you guys seen my feet after practice?" I asked rolling my eyes when they shook their heads. I suppose they did have reason for concern if they had never seen it before however I wasn't worried as I walked over to Luke and picked up his songbook, dipping to the page he had been working on, Unsaid Emily written in his messy handwriting.

My eyes softened upon seeing Emily's name but I put a smile on my face, "This is good, Luke." I told him despite the sad lyrics that made me sad.

"It's nothing." Luke said brushing it off as he took the songbook back.

"Your mom would love it." I told him softly before sitting back down.

Luke gave me a soft grin, happy with that thought as he returned to his songbook.

♪ **𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢 ♪**

I was sitting on the couch strumming my guitar to the beat of one of their songs when I heard a shout, my head snapped up and I found the band jumping around happily.

Curiously, I set down my guitar and furrowed my brows, "What happened?" I asked.

The boys turned to me with grins, Bobby's faded the second his eyes connected with mine however the others smiles never strained. "We're playing the Orpheum!" They chorused excitedly.

My eyes widened, a grin stretching across my face as I stood up and rushed over to them, "Oh my god! I can't believe it!" I exclaimed excitedly for them.

"Well believe it sister cause we're playing the Orpheum in two weeks." Alex replied happily.

I smiled, "I'm so excited for you guys." I told them holding Alex's hands in mine.

"Well actually, we wanted to ask you something..." Luke started stepping closer to me.

I frowned in confusion, "What is it?" I asked.

"Do you want to join Sunset Curve?" Reggie asked too excited to wait for Luke.

My eyes widened in shock, "What?!"

"You can play the Orpheum with us and we can go on tours and-" Reggie began to ramble before I cut him off, "I'm not joining Sunset Curve."

I glanced at Bobby to find anger in his eyes and a frown on his face. He still didn't agree with me joining and he made that very clear the last time they asked me, that was fine with me. Don't get me wrong I'd love to be apart of Sunset Curve however I would not join when Bobby is still apart of the band. I couldn't.

"What do you mean you're not joining Sunset Curve?" Luke asked confused and heartbroken.

I shook my head, pushing down my doubts and guilt, "I can't Luke. I have my own dreams, my own life. I'm a dancer, not a singer." I lied.

Luke scoffed, "I've seen you on two stages, Leila, you were always happiest on our stage singing with us so don't tell me that."

Alex sighed and took away his hands, "Tell me the truth Leila," I turned my attention to my twin, our eyes connecting as he gazed at me sternly, "why won't you join our band?"

I glanced at Bobby once more, "You know why, Alex." I told him softly, we had talked about this before.

I never told Luke and Reggie why I couldn't join the band however I had told Alex and made him promise not to tell Luke and Reggie without my knowledge.

"What because of him?" Alex asked in frustration.

"Him?" Reggie spoke as Bobby tensed, his frown deepened as he leaned forward, sending me a glare.

I shook my head at Alex, "Don't you dare, Alex." I warned him, they couldn't know.

"I just don't get it, Leila," Alex replied, "if you hate him so much why are you letting him control you?"

I shook my head, fighting back the tears, "I'm not doing this with you again, Alex." I told him taking a step back.

"Leila-" Alex started.

"No Alex, leave it alone." I told him before I walked out of the studio, glancing at Reggie and Luke's confused gazes full of concern and Bobby's stone-cold glare.

Tears fell from my eyes the second I got out of the studio, unable to hold it back any longer I collapsed onto the floor with a choked sob. "They can't know, they can't know, they can't know." I mumbled on repeat as I cried to myself, hoping the boys wouldn't hear.

**♪ 𝟷,𝟷𝟹𝟾 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪**

What happened between Leila and Bobby? And why doesn't Leila want Luke and Reggie to know? Let me know what you think in the comments, I hope you enjoyed if you did be sure to...

Vote,

Comment,

And...

Be a weirdo! Buh bye!


	6. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎

**♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪**

Alex stared at the closed studio doors with sadness and guilt written across his face as he ignored Bobby's glares.

"Alex." Luke, Alex's best friend, bandmate, and ex-boyfriend, called.

Alex hummed in acknowledgment never turning away from the doors as if Leila would come in without him knowing if he did.

"What just happened?" Luke asked.

"Yeah and who is this guy you two were talking about?" Reggie questioned next, his arms crossed over his stomach as his brows furrowed in confusion and concern, wishing he could wrap Leila up in his arms and hide her from the world, taking away any and all pain she had ever felt.

Alex shook his head, forcing himself to turn away from the doors, "I can't tell you." He told them softly.

"You can't or won't?" Luke asked worried about his honorary little sister.

Alex sighed, "I promised her Luke."

Bobby cleared his throat as he pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning on, "It's getting late I have to go home, my parents are waiting." He told them staring at Alex.

"Alright, dude." Reggie said brushing it off.

Alex tensed as his bandmate put a rough hand on his shoulder, holding it harder than he had to before he patted it roughly. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." Bobby said sending one last subtle glare to Alex before he left, ignoring the crying girl he passed by when he walked out.

"What was that?" Luke questioned immediately noticing how Alex relaxed once their bandmate left.

"It's nothing." Alex told him.

Luke went to say something however Reggie didn't pay any more attention to the conversation as he caught the faint sound of a sob outside. Worry increasing with every step he took towards the door, Reggie rushed to help the girl.

"Leila." Reggie called as he slid the studio doors closed once he stepped out into the cold air.

Leila tensed, her sobs going silent as she turned to him. "What are you doing out here Reg?" Leila asked ignoring the crack in her voice as she spoke.

Reggie sighed, sitting down beside the girl. "I was worried about you." He still was.

Leila forced a smile, "Don't, I'm fine."

"No, you aren't," Reggie responded knowingly. "Do you want to talk about it at all?"

Leila shook her head as she wiped away some tears. "I don't know." She admitted quietly.

Reggie frowned and inched towards her until he was right next to her, tossing an arm over her shoulder he offered a smile. "That's alright we can just sit here."

"For how long?" Leila asked knowing one of the boys would come to find them eventually.

"As long as you want to." Reggie replied softly.

Leila smiled, cuddling into his side as a shiver ran down her, "Thanks Reg." She mumbled as he tightened his grip, bringing her closer upon noticing how cold she was.

"Anytime Leila."

**♪** **𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢 ♪**

They never talked about what happened earlier that day. Luke and Alex had tried to once, that was all it took for them to know it was a bad subject. Despite their worry, they moved on, however, they didn't forget.

The boys began to watch Leila closer, especially around Bobby. Luke and Reggie began to watch Alex and Leila around Bobby as well and quickly took notice of how uncomfortable the twins were around the boy and began to wonder what had happened but in fear of upsetting the twins or causing a fight between the band and honorary member, they left it alone.

They all wanted answers however the band— their family — was far more important than any of that.

As they took notice of their strange behavior, Luke and Reggie began to become even more protective than they were before, something that Leila barely noticed. They had always been protective so when they started to drag Bobby away from talking to her, it was just them behind protective.

Truthfully, Leila knew that something had happened, she noticed the changes in the boys' behavior around Bobby and the twins, but in fear of them finding out and becoming even more protective and possibly splitting the band, Leila stayed quiet throwing all her focus into her dance to prepare for her upcoming performance.

Speaking of performances, the boys began to practice more as well, becoming more excited with every day that passed as it got closer and closer to the day they played the Orpheum.

Leila smiled as she relaxed on the couch after her dance practiced simply watching them play as she allowed herself to rest.

"Hey Leila," Luke called, Leila focused on him rather than Reggie's smirk as he played for her, "what do you think of this?" Luke played a series of chords on his guitar to the beat of one of his unfinished songs.

Leila grinned, "It sounds great Luke." She told him.

Luke grinned and they went back to their practice, ignoring but not forgetting Bobby's huffs of frustration whenever Leila spoke which slowly resulted in Leila speaking less, shying away when any of the boys tried to include her in their conversation.

It was becoming clearer to Luke and Reggie that Bobby was not the good guy he acted like he was and the twins' strange behavior only proved that to them more however they also realized Alex didn't know everything either. He knew more than them, that was for sure, but for the first time, it seemed Leila was keeping a secret — a big secret —- from her twin which was enough to worry the boys as they desperately tried to focus on their practice despite their minds constantly going back to the girl as she hummed one of their songs under her breath as she read a book.

Once the practice was over, Bobby rushed out not wanting to be near the twins any longer and for once Reggie and Luke didn't ask questions about the boy's strange behavior they were happy he was leaving so soon.

They only became happier when they saw how Leila relaxed upon the boy's departure, Alex relaxing soon after seemingly noticing how his twin relaxed.

"Hey Leila," Luke called, taking the girls attention away from the book, "I think this would sound good on the piano, wanna try it out?"

Leila frowned, her piano was still at the house, Luke had to know that. "I don't have my piano."

"Yeah, you do." Reggie chimed in, "We got it for you yesterday, it's in the loft." He told her gesturing towards the loft.

Leila quickly put her book down, excited to have her piano back however before she went up to the loft she turned to her twin, realizing he had probably gone to get it since he was the only besides her with a key, although Leila suspected that would change soon enough. "Was everything okay?"

Alex nodded, "Yeah it was fine. Go get your piano before Luke starts pouting." It was the truth, Alex had no problems. Of course, neither of their parents were there so it was hard for him to have any problems but still.

Leila grinned as she went up to the loft, the boys grins matching hers.

There was their girl.

**♪ 𝟷,𝟸𝟷𝟹 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey weirdos! The next chapters going to be the boys Orpheum experience finally, I'll be working on that right after this so it might be out pretty soon. But anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did be sure to...
> 
> Kudos,
> 
> Comment,
> 
> And...
> 
> Be a weirdo! Buh bye! ❤️❤️👻


	7. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

The time had finally come.

Sunset Curve is playing The Orpheum tonight.

Leila rushed out of her dance studio, throwing a quick see you tomorrow behind her as she heard Jasper's chuckle following shortly after, her dance bag swung on her arm as she ran down the streets, this time not with fear but with excitement.

Minutes later Leila arrived at the boys' studio and pushed open the doors, dropping her bag by the door before sliding the doors closed and turning to the boys who were practicing softly.

Excitement buzzed in Leila as she exclaimed, "You're playing the Orpheum!"

Luke chuckled, "We know, Lei." He replied.

Leila grinned and rushed over, squeezing herself between Reggie and Alex as she threw an arm over each of the boys' shoulders. "I'm so proud of you guys." She told them, "You better not forget about me when you're rich and famous." She teased dramatically.

The boys chuckled. "How could we forget about you?" Alex replied rhetorically.

"Yeah, you'll be rich and famous too, Lee." Reggie told her as if it was a fact.

Leila rolled her eyes although she couldn't push back the feeling of happiness that hit her. He believed in her. They believed in her. "Yeah, yeah."

"I'm serious you'll be dancing on stage while we're singing, it's not that different." Reggie carried on.

Luke nodded, "Yeah maybe you can be our backup dancer." Luke suggested.

Leila laughed, "In your dreams Patterson." She told him.

If she ever joined them on stage it would be with her guitar or piano and her voice, not her dance.

If only she could join them on stage.

Leila's eyes went to Bobby, she couldn't join them, not while Bobby was there. She just couldn't.

♪ 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚞𝚖 ♪

"One, two, three." Alex called as he hit his drumsticks together on stage, Leila stood in the empty crowd with a grin on her face as she watched them practice for the last time before their performance.

"Take off, last stop, countdown till we blast open the top. Face first, full charge, electric hammer to the heart." Luke sang as he strummed his guitar.

"Clocks move faster 'cause it's all we're after now, oh." Alex, Reggie, and Luke chorused.

Reggie moved towards Luke as they sang into the same mic, "Won't stop climbing 'cause this is our time, yeah."

Luke pushed Reggie away dramatically before he began to sing on his own, "When all the days felt black and white those were the best shades of my life!"

"Don't look down!" All of the boys chorused.

"'Cause we're still rising-" Luke continued on his own before they all chorused together.

"Up right now."

Luke then went on his own, "And even if we-"

"Hit the ground." The boys chorused together.

"We'll still fly, keep dreaming like well live forever." Luke sang into his mic.

"But live it like it's now or never!" The boys chorused.

"We ain't searching for tomorrow." Alex sang into his mic as he played the drums.

"Tomorrow!" Reggie sang into his mic.

"Cause we got all we need today." Alex continued.

"Today!" Reggie repeated again.

"Living on a feeling that's been running through our veins." Luke sang solo into his mic.

"We're the revolution that's been singing in the rain!" Reggie sang.

"Don't look down 'cause we're still rising up right now." The boys chorused, Alex beating his drumsticks together in the air as Luke swung his guitar.

"And even if we-" Luke sang solo.

"hit the ground." The boys finished the lyrics together.

"We'll still fly." Luke sang.

"Keep dreaming like we'll live forever but live it like it's now or never." They sang into their mics.

"It's now or never!" Luke sang into his mic.

"Now or never!" Reggie and Alex sang with Luke.

They finished their song as they slowed their instruments, Luke bowed to the empty crowd.

"Whoo, excellent!" A girl in the crowd sang.

"Sounds great guys!" A sound check guy said.

"Whoo!" A girl called, "Yeah!"

The boys laugh as did Leila as she watched the girl clap her hands together for her boys

"Good job boys! Amazing as usual!" Leila called with a grin.

"Thank you, we're sunset curve." Reggie spoke into the mic with a wink sent Leila's way making the girl laugh as she made her way over to the stage.

"Too bad we wasted that on the soundcheck that was the tightest we've ever played." Bobby told Luke who hadn't noticed Leila approaching as she went over to her brother and Reggie first.

"Wait until tonight, man, when this place gets packed with record execs." Luke replied.

"Alex you were smoking!" Reggie told Alex.

"Oh no. I was just warming up. You guys were the ones on fire." Alex replied sheepishly as he held his drumsticks.

"Could you just own your awesomeness for once?" Reggie told his friend making Leila laugh although she couldn't help but agree, Alex always underestimated himself.

"Yeah Alex, you were amazing up there." Leila told her twin.

"Huh?" Luke said to Alex who had turned to him.

Alex turned back to Reggie and spoke, admitting his awesomeness, "Alright I was killing it."

They chuckled as Reggie and Alex did their handshake before Luke spoke, "Okay well I'm thinking we fuel up before the show. I'm thinking of street dogs."

"Ooh!" Reggie chimed in.

"Yes!" Alex agreed pointing to Luke with his drumsticks.

Bobby strayed from the group as he approached the girl from earlier who was wiping down a table.

"Hey, Bobby, where you going?" Luke called following Bobby. Reggie and Alex did the same however Leila was more reluctant but relented and followed however she stayed as far away from the boy as possible.

"I'm good." Bobby told the boys before looking at the girl. "Vegetarian. I could never hurt an animal." Leila rolled her eyes, yeah right.

"You guys are really good." The girl told the band.

"Thank you." Luke thanked the girl with a grin as Leila smiled proudly.

"I see a lot of bands, been in a couple myself, I was really feeling it." The girl carried on.

"That's what we do this for." Luke told her, "Um Luke, by the way."

"Hi, I'm Reggie." Reggie introduced himself excitedly.

"Alex." Alex greeted.

Leila offered the girl a grin, "I'm Leila."

Bobby pushed past Leila, forcing her to stand behind him, "Bobby." Luke frowned at the scene slightly but didn't say anything instead he reached for Leila's hand offering her support.

"Nice meeting you guys." The girl replied, "I'm Rose."

"Oh uh, here's our demo." Reggie said placing a copy of their demo on the table Rose had been wiping down, "And a t-shirt. Size beautiful." Leila rolled her eyes, ignoring the jealousy she felt.

It was who Reggie was. A flirt. If he didn't flirt he wouldn't be him.

Alex groans at the flirt, glancing at his sister who he knew had a crush on his bandmate, Rose held up the shirt to herself, "Thanks," Rose said as she folded the shirt, "I'll make sure not to wipe the tables down with this one."

"Oh, good call. Whenever they get wet they just kinda fall apart in your hands." Alex told the girl.

"Don't you guys have to go get hot dogs?" Bobby chimed in gesturing to the boys.

Leila knew as soon as she saw the mischievous gleam in her friend's eyes he was going to say something.

Luke released her hand as he spoke, pushing in front of Bobby as Leila moved closer to Reggie, "Yeah, he had a hamburger for lunch."

Leila held back a laugh as they walked away leaving Bobby to talk to Rose.

Leila glanced back at the girl one last time as they walked away. Good luck, she thought before rushing after her friends.

♪ 𝟷,𝟹𝟷𝟸 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey weirdos! Told you the next chapter would be up soon! I'm not sure if all the singing parts are correct but I tried my best let me know if anything's wrong and I'll fix it but anyways, I hope you enjoyed, if you did be sure to...
> 
> Vote,
> 
> Comment,
> 
> And...
> 
> Be a weirdo! Buh bye! ❤️❤️
> 
> Disclaimer 
> 
> I do not own the song used in this chapter!


	8. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

Luke pushed the back doors of The Orpheum open now wearing his long flannel jacket, Leila, Reggie, and Alex were at his side as they walked out.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Luke exclaimed happily.

Reggie chuckled next to Leila, Leila wrinkled her nose as she got a whiff of a horrendous smell just as Alex spoke, "The smell of Sunset Boulevard?"

Luke turned to Alex, "No." He chuckled, pushing Alex teasingly before they continued walking. "It's what that girl said in there tonight. About our music, alright? It's like an energy, it connects us with people." Leila smiled, it definitely connected them if not with people than with each other. "They can feel us when we play. I want that connection with everybody." Luke told his bandmates bringing them in close by throwing his arms over their shoulders.

Leila smiled staying silent as the band had their moment, "Then we're gonna need more t-shirts." Reggie replied making the group snicker, Leila letting out a giggle.

"Let's go boys." Luke said releasing his bandmates' shoulders, "And girl." He added glancing at Leila who gave him a smirk as he put his hoodie on.

Reggie strayed from the group, giving Leila a look that she knew meant he would be right back. He handed the t-shirts he had been holding to some girls waiting in line to see them. "Ladies." Reggie said as he handed them their new t-shirts.

Reggie turned around as the girls realized who he was, rushing to catch up with his band and friend as one of the girls squealed and called after him, "Reggie, wait!" Leila frowned before Reggie threw his arm over her shoulder as they walked. The girls behind them continued to squeal and call after the band as they walked away.

Just as they got to the other side of the street, someone called out again, this time not to the boys but Leila. "Leila! Leila!" Leila spun around upon hearing her name come from a familiar voice, she found Jasper rushing to catch up to the group who had paused, waiting for him to reach them. Leila took a few steps forward, wondering if she should go up to him or wait for him.

Leila's brows furrowed in confusion as Jasper reached them, what was he doing here? "What's going on Jas? What's wrong?" She asked confused and slightly concerned.

Jasper took a few deep breaths, catching his breath after running after the girl before he answered her question, "It's them, they're demanding a battle."

Leila tensed immediately understanding the situation as she nodded, the boys however were confused. "Battle? What kind of battle?" Reggie asked curiously, stepping up to stand beside Leila again.

Jasper looked to Reggie before answering his question, "A dance battle."

Reggie's eyes widened, intrigued at the thought as Jasper turned to Leila. "Are you coming or not? Taylor would be pissed if you don't come but I can make something up if you want to stay." Jasper told his friend.

Leila was reluctant to answer as she didn't know the answer herself. Of course, she wanted to go, she didn't want to disappoint her team, however, she didn't want to leave her boys on their big night either.

Leila glanced at her other friends before turning back to Jasper, "Will I be back before the performance?"

Jasper nodded, "I'll make sure of it." He told her knowing how much being there for the boys meant to her.

Leila nodded, "Alright then let's go show them who's the best dancers." Leila told her friend with a smirk, taking a few steps away from the group before turning back to them, she went up to her brother who she knew was nervous, and gave him a quick hug, "You're gonna do amazing." She whispered to him before pulling away and looking at the trio, "You're all gonna do amazing and I'll be right there watching you guys so don't disappoint me, alright?"

"Never Jacobs." Luke told her with a grin.

Leila nodded, a grin matching his before she turned to look at Reggie, "Do you wanna come watch, Reg?" She asked hoping the boy couldn't see the blush forming on her cheeks.

"Sorry Lei, street dogs are calling my name." Reggie told her with a shake of his head, clearly not understanding what the offer truly was, Leila's face fell which Reggie noticed as he spoke, "But I'm sure you'll do great."

Leila nodded, forcing a grin onto her face although it wasn't nearly as happy as the previous one she wore just moments ago. "Yeah, yeah." Leila said tensely before turning to Jasper, "We should probably go, don't want to keep them waiting."

Jasper nodded, sending Reggie a glare for making his friend upset as he joined their arms, "Come on Lee, let's get away from these dirty boys." Leila laughed as her friend dragged her off.

Reggie grinned as he watched her walk away, her laugh echoing down the street before he turned to his bandmates, "Come on boys, street dogs are calling my name." Reggie told them.

Alex shook his head and sighed staying silent about the matter however Luke spoke for him, "Dude you're so oblivious."

Reggie furrowed his brows in confusion, "What are you talking about?" He questioned in confusion.

Alex shook his head once more, "She wanted to hang out with you." He told his friend.

Reggie's eyes widened, realization dawning on him. He had just missed the chance to hang out with his long-time crush alone. Well after her dance battle, something Alex hadn't even seen before let alone been offered to go to, they would be alone. "Oh." Reggie said in shock.

Luke rolled his eyes at his oblivious friend. For a flirt, he didn't know much about romance, well not when it came to Leila anyway. "Yeah oh." Luke replied walking ahead of the boys to go to the hot dog 'stand.'

Reggie and Alex rushed to catch up to the boy, Alex, and Luke laughing upon seeing Reggie's pout as they walked to the stand, not knowing that had been his last chance to hang out with the girl.

Well, it was supposed to be his last chance but becoming ghosts wasn't exactly something they had expected.

Meanwhile, Leila walked to her dance battle, her best non-Sunset-Curve friend by her side, a grin on her face despite the bad feeling in her stomach telling her something was wrong, that she needed to turn back, run back to her boys, Leila ignored it, shoving the feeling down.

They were just having street dogs, after all, it wasn't like anything would happen.

♪ 𝟷,𝟷𝟸𝟶 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	9. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚡

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

Leila rushed out of the dance studio with a grin on her face, her team had won the battle and she was buzzing with excitement, not just because of her recent win but because she was going to see her boys perform at the Orpheum.

Leila rushed down the street, pausing when she saw ambulances rushing past, sirens blaring outside of the Orpheum, close to where the boys had gone for their hot dogs. Leila frowned, making her way over to the Orpheum upon seeing Bobby standing out front, he would know where the boys were and what was going on.

She didn't like talking to him however she needed answers.

"Bobby!" Leila called out to the boy who turned to her with a frown. Leila paused upon reaching him, worry etched across her face as she spoke, "Where are the boys?"

"They're gone." Bobby told her bluntly.

Leila's frown deepened, she knew what that meant however she couldn't believe, they couldn't be gone. "W-what do you mean gone?"

"They're gone, dead." Bobby told her.

Tears began to fall down Leila's face the second she heard those words, "W-what?" Leila asked in shock.

"I have to go." Bobby told her before he turned around and walked away, leaving the heartbroken girl alone on the cold street.

Leila gripped her arms tightly as she turned around to face where the ambulances had been, there was a familiar leather jacket, seemingly thrown carelessly on the concrete. Leila gingerly walked up to the jacket and picked it up with shaking hands, she brought the jacket to her nose and smelled, closing her eyes as she smelled him.

A sob racked Leila's body as she fell onto the concrete road, "They can't be gone, they can't be gone, they can't be gone, they can't be-" Leila continued to repeat as she held the jacket close, eventually her words were cut off, unable to get anything through her sobs.

After what seemed like forever, a warm hand was placed on Leila's shoulder as she sobbed. "Leila," Jasper's voice called out to her softly, "Leila, come on let's get you off the ground." He whispered as he picked her up, Leila gripped Reggie's jacket close to her as her friend picked her up bridal style, she was scared, scared that the only thing she had of him would be gone if she released her grip, gone like they were.

"I can't do it, Jasp, I can't do it without them." Leila sobbed into his chest.

"Can't do what, Lei?" Jasper asked in confusion, Leila's sobs becoming louder upon hearing the familiar nickname.

"Live." Leila answered in a whisper, unsure if Jasper would even hear her however when she felt him tense, his grip on her tightening, she knew he had.

Jasper shook his head, "Don't say that, Leila, you can live without them." Jasper told her as they reached the sidewalk.

Leila shook her head, bringing Reggie's jacket impossibly closer, "No I can't."She whispered as she watched the ambulances carrying her best friend's drive off out of sight, sirens blaring despite the fact that she knew they were already gone, or with little to no chance of survival.

"You can live for them." Jasper stated, "You have to." He added softly.

Leila stayed quiet after that until she realized he was still walking. "Where are we going, Jas?"

"I'm taking you home." Jasper answered focusing on the walk to her house.

Home. He wasn't taking her home, her home was the boys.

Her home was Luke.

Her home was Reggie.

Her home was Alex.

She couldn't go home anymore. Her home was gone. Her best friend was gone, her anchor was gone, her everything was gone. Half of her heart was missing. Her twin was gone, and she didn't know what to do.

She felt like she couldn't do anything.

Not without them.

Leila was the one to break the news to her parents, in between her sobs she told her mother and father their son, her twin brother, was gone, never coming back home, and despite all the previous anger they held for Alex, they cried.

They cried, if not for Alex than for their daughter who was sobbing as they held her. Jasper left the Jacobs family alone to grieve, promising to come and check on Leila tomorrow.

After an hour (at least) of sobbing into her parent's arms, Leila went up to her room, falling onto the bed she hadn't slept in for weeks and cried. Still holding Reggie's jacket to her. She cried until she had no tears left to cry.

She didn't go to sleep that night, she listened as her parents went to their bedroom before she got off her bed and snuck downstairs and went right out the back door.

At first, Leila thought she would just be going out for some air, something she desperately needed, however she felt herself walking away from her house, unable to stop herself.

Half-way through her journey, Leila realized not only where she was going but how cold it was. Leila shivered for a moment before she remembered the jacket still gripped tightly in her hands, she glanced at it nervously for a few moments before her teeth started to chatter and she gingerly slipped on his jacket before continuing to walk to their studio, embracing the smell of Reggie and the safety she only felt when wrapped up in their arms.

Once Leila arrived at the studio, she slid open the doors and walked in, closing the doors behind her before she took in her surroundings. She walked over to her electric piano where Luke's acoustic guitar was leaning, she brushed her fingers across the strings before looking around. She walked over to the couch and sat down, picking up Luke's songbook that had been tossed onto the couch before they had left, she opened the book and looked through the book for a moment, gingerly tracing his messy handwriting with her finger before tears streamed down her face, hitting the page that had 'Now or Never' written across the top, the last song they had ever played, the song they were supposed to play tonight at the Orpheum.

Leila sniffled as she closed the book and laid down, her exhaustion finally getting the best of her as she clung onto Reggie's jacket, curling into a ball on the couch, the smell of her boys surrounding her as she fell asleep, tear streaks slowly drying as she slept. In the morning they would be replaced with fresh tears upon Leila realizing the events of the night before.

♪ 𝟷,𝟷𝟷𝟹 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	10. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

Bobby was pacing backstage, they were supposed to go on in eight minutes and the boys weren't back.

"Where the hell are they?" Bobby muttered as he huffed and went out the back door in hopes of finding them.

Bobby did indeed find them that night however he hadn't expected how he had found them, he looked around curiously, squinting his eyes in the dimly lit alleyway, he saw stretchers being put into ambulances, a familiar flannel jacket on one and a leather jacket being thrown onto the floor for one of the EMT's to get to something, Bobby rushed over to an EMT that wasn't busy, worry etched on his face.

"Hey! Hey!" Bobby called as he ran up to the EMT. "Do you know who they are?"

The EMT shook her head, "No sir, they look to be about 16-17, one has light blonde hair and two have dark hair." Upon seeing Bobby's wide eyes, she asked, "Do you know them?"

Bobby nodded as he took a gulp, "The blonde is Alex, the one with the long flannel is Luke, the one with the leather jacket is Reggie. Is there a girl with them?"

The EMT shook their head, "No sir."

Bobby nodded. So Leila hadn't been with them, he looked around curiously wondering where the girl was. "I'm sorry sir I really must be going."

"Wait!" Bobby said, eyes wide, "W-will they be alright?"

The EMT sighed, staying quiet for a moment before speaking truthfully, "They don't look very good. There is a chance that they will make it but..."

"But?" Bobby asked nervously.

Reluctant to say anything but knowing the boy was worried for his friends and most likely wouldn't let up until he knew, she spoke. "But there is a high chance they may be gone by the time they get to the hospital." The EMT told the boy.

"Oh." Bobby said his face falling.

"We will do whatever we can to make sure they make it." She told the boy soothingly before glancing at her ambulance, her coworker told her to hurry up. "I really must go, sir."

Bobby nodded, "Uh yeah right sorry. Can you call Alex's sister if... if Alex makes it to the hospital? They're twins." Bobby took a deep breath, "She deserves to say goodbye."

Bobby may not like the girl, like at all, but if he had a twin and he was in this situation, the boys would all but drag his twin to the hospital themselves to make sure they got the chance. It was the least he could do for the only people who believed in him and his musical talent.

The EMT nodded, "Yes sir. All families will be notified no matter what happens."

Bobby took another gulp, "Alright uh thank you." Without another word, Bobby stepped back going off to the sidewalk without so much as a glance at the ambulances.

Bobby watched as the EMT jumped into the ambulance, her coworker shouting for her from inside, then he watched as the ambulances left, sirens blaring as they drove away, carrying not just his bandmates but his friends.

Bobby had never been as close to the boys as they were to each other and often times he felt out of place, the fourth wheel in their band, but they were still friends and they tried. He would still miss them. How could he not? They brought music into his life and encouraged him to continue even when he didn't believe in himself.

The sound of footsteps as someone ran up to Bobby could be heard as a familiar voice called out to him, "Bobby!"

Bobby knew who it was immediately. Leila. Alex's twin. He took a deep breath as the girl asked him where her brother and best friends were. He felt as if he would break down at any second however he stayed strong, speaking to the girl bluntly and tensely before rushing off. He had things to do and he had to get away from her.

♪ 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚢 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚌𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝,

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚂𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘 ♪

Leila woke with a groan on the pull-out couch, her phone ringing beside her being the only reason she got up so quickly that morning. If it was up to her she would have stayed in bed all day, crying away as the minutes passed by like hours.

Leila grabbed her phone clumsily and hit answer, pressing it to her ear as she spoke, her voice stuffy from all the tears she had shed, still rough from sleep, "Hello?"

"Hi is this Leila Jacobs, Alexander Jacobs' sister?" A kind voice spoke, impossibly cheery despite the time.

Leila tensed, sitting up straight as she answered, "This is she." Leila cleared her throat nervously.

"I'm afraid your brother was taken into our hospital last night for food poisoning." The voice on the other end paused, her voice losing the cheeriness it had held more with every word, "He doesn't have long. We have contacted your parents and they suggested we call you as well."

Leila took a deep breath, "And Luke, Reggie? How are they?" Leila was genuinely surprised when her voice didn't crack and tears didn't come to her eyes.

"Luke Patterson and Reginald *insert random last name*?" The voice asked.

"Yes." Leila answered, shifting on the uncomfortable pull-out.

"They are... Mr. Patterson passed away before he reached the hospital, Reginald doesn't have long." Leila choked on a sob, her hand coming to her mouth in utter shock and sadness. Luke was gone, Reggie was going to be gone and so was Alex...

"I'm very sorry miss." The woman apologized.

Leila cleared her throat, trying her best to stay strong at least until she hung up the phone, then she would cry. "What hospital are they at?" Leila forced herself to ask, wiping away some tears that had fallen.

The woman answered her softly, keeping her voice kind and clear as she spoke before Leila thanked her and hung up, not waiting for the woman to reply.

Leila turned off her phone and threw it done before she stood up, finding her shoes and dirty socks she had thrown off after waking in the middle of the night, one under the bed and another halfway under, Leila grabbed them and slipped on the socks before slipping on the shoes and tying them. She glanced at herself in a nearby mirror, combed through her hair to make it look somewhat decent before she grabbed her phone and slipped it into her pocket before rushing out.

She hopped on one of the boys' bikes before riding off, halfway to the hospital she realized it was Luke's, and tears began to fall again. The rest of the journey was blurry quite literally as she couldn't see much thanks to the tears and seemed to take far too long, she dreaded taking those first steps into the hospital but she had to do it.

She didn't know how long they had but she knew one thing, they wouldn't be alone. Leila wouldn't let them be alone, they had never let her be alone and she would be damned if they were alone now.

♪ 𝟷,𝟸𝟶𝟽 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to make Bobby be the bad guy and then this happened so... yeah. I hope you guys enjoyed seeing it from Bobby's point of view (sorta) I know not all of it is accurate and I'm pretty sure they all died on the way to the hospital but I have some ideas. 
> 
> Fair warning the next couple of chapters will not only be not including the actual show but also be very sad so yeah.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, if you did be sure to...
> 
> Vote,
> 
> Comment,
> 
> And...
> 
> Be a weirdo! Buh bye! ❤️❤️


	11. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

Leila stepped into the hospital with her breath drawn, she found it hard to breathe, her breaths coming out short and strangled as she walked the hospital halls. The world seemed blurry, the noises around her sounded distant.

The second Leila stepped up to the desk and a nurse spoke, the world went back to normal, Leila took a deep breath as she looked at the nurse before her, the sounds that had seemed so quiet before now shockingly loud.

"Hi I'm looking for Alex Jacobs' and Reginald *last name*'s rooms, can you help me out?" Leila asked nervously as she twiddled with her fingers under the counter.

"Relation?" The nurse asked as she typed away on her computer.

Leila shuffled nervously before speaking, "Uh I'm Alex's twin sister and Reggie's-" Leila cleared her throat, pushing back the tears that threatened to fall, "Reginald's friend."

The nurse nodded, looking at her computer for a moment more before giving the girl a sad, pity-filled look, "They're in room B12 and B14."

Leila nodded forcing a smile, "Thank you."

Before the nurse could say a word, Leila rushed off to find the rooms, swallowing loudly as she walked. She didn't want to be around people right now, she couldn't. She couldn't deal with the pity looks and the sad words, she just wanted her boys back.

Leila took a deep breath as she spotted the first room, a quick peek through the glass door told her it was Alex's room, Reggie's being right next to his.

Leila found herself frozen, unable to move from her spot as tears fell down her face, a choked sob came out as she brought her hand to her mouth. "I can't do this alone." Leila whispered as she stood in the empty hospital hallway.

After a few minutes of standing there crying, Leila got a hold of her emotions enough to reach for the door handle, opening the door and walking in, the sound of the machines beeping echoing in her ears before she even looked around.

Leila turned away from the door and found tears trailing down her face as she saw her twin brother lying in the hospital bed unconscious and hooked up to machines. What hurts worse was she knew he wasn't going to get out of the hospital bed, he wasn't going to wake up and reassure her he was okay, he was gone.

Leila nearly fell to the floor, barely catching herself as she clung onto the wall and made her way over to the chair by Alex's side. The second she sat down on the chair she grabbed his lifeless hand, intertwining theirs as tears fell down her face.

As she stared at her brother's face, words began to tumble out of her mouth, "I don't know what to do without you, Alex, I've never done this. I've always had you and now I'm alone." She paused, taking a shaky breath and continuing, "I don't want to be alone."

Leila had felt alone before however never like this. She had always known Alex, or Reggie or Luke would be there for her and now... now they weren't.

"I just want you to wake up and comfort me and tease me about you being older and-" Leila was cut off by a sob forcing it's way out, she shook her head before speaking again, her voice shaky and broken, "I just want you."

The rest of her time was Alex was spent in silence, the sound of the machines he was hooked up to filling the silence that filled the hospital room.

Leila wiped her eyes, "I need to go see Reggie." She whispered to herself before focusing on her brother once more, "I love you so much, Alex. I'm just glad you're not alone." She told him as she stood pressing a kiss to his forehead, tears falling down her face onto his as she pulled away.

Leila turned away from Alex, her hand falling from his and for a second just a split second, Leila thought he had gripped her hand. She turned to look at him and found his hand unmoved, his eyes closed just as they had been since she arrived.

She shook her head, it was her imagination that's it. She told herself as she walked out the door.

Before she shut the door behind her she looked at her brother with sad tear-filled eyes, "I love you, Alex." She whispered before she shut the door and went to Reggie's, becoming all too aware of his leather jacket surrounding her in warmth upon seeing him laying there.

This time she didn't stand in the hallway however she was tempted to. She wasn't ready to go into that room, she would never be ready to go in that room but she had to.

Leila took a shaky breath as she stepped into Reggie's room, not wasting any time as she rushed over to the chair before taking in his appearance, he looked the same as Alex had really. He was pale, paler than usual, he was hooked up to machines, his eyes closed as if he was sleeping, he didn't move an inch like he usually did when he slept. He looked peaceful but strange. Leila guessed it was because he was missing his jacket, she rarely saw him without it.

"Hey, Reg." She greeted with a sad smile. "I got your jacket." She told him as she gripped his jacket. She shook her head, "I can't believe you guys are gone." Something between a laugh and a sob ripped through Leila's throat, "And by hotdogs nonetheless, that's insane."

Leila sniffed as she reached for Reggie's hand, intertwining them just as she had with Alex. "I have to tell you something. I can't believe I never did before, it took you laying in a hospital bed for me to tell you..." Leila shook her head, looking up from her lap as she uttered the words she had wanted to say to him for years, "I love you Reg. More than friends, more than honorary siblings, more than... anything I've ever felt before." Leila took a shaky breath, wiping away the tears with her free hand, the sleeve of his jacket becoming wet. "I just wish I got to tell you before... this."

Leila sighed, the feel of his jacket was no longer comforting as she started at his expressionless face, wishing she could see his smile one more time. Without a second thought, Leila slid off his jacket, folding it up before putting it by Reggie's side, "Here you should have that back." She told him.

Tears fell down Leila's eyes and a humorless laugh cut through the strange silence in the room, "God I'm a mess Reg." She whispered, "I need to go." Before I break down, Leila added silently as she stood up, glancing back at the boy she loved once, twice before she left the room.

Leila turned around to go back to Alex or the sitting room or perhaps outside where she could be alone, Leila hadn't been sure yet, when a sob cut through the air and she saw a familiar heartbroken face down the hall. Her face fell, her whisper in the quiet hall sounding like a shout, "Mrs. Patterson."

♪ 𝟷,𝟸𝟸𝟻 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	12. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

"Mrs. Patterson." Leila whispered in the quiet hall upon seeing her best friend's mother.

Mrs. Patterson's head snapped up, eyes widening when she saw Leila, "Leila." Mrs. Patterson called. "Oh, Leila how are you, dear?"

Leila shook her head tears falling down her face as she approached her best friend's parents, "I'm so sorry, Mrs. and Mr. Patterson." She whispered unable to make her voice louder.

Mrs. Patterson shook her head, ever the caring woman she was despite the all too recent loss of her son. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Leila." Mrs. Patterson's eyes went to Alex and Reggie's rooms before they connected with Leila's once more, "You lost them too."

Leila bit her lip, barely holding in a sob as she nodded.

"Oh, dear." Mrs. Patterson whispered sadly, hating to see the girl that had become a part of her family not to mention her son's best friend so... broken.

"I'm sorry I can't." Leila told Mrs. Patterson before rushing off.

Leila didn't know where she was going, all she knew was she ended up outside the hospital the cold air hitting her immediately. She went out of the way of anybody who may need to go into the hospital before she broke, falling onto the floor in a heap of sobs and tears as she mourned the loss of her brother, best friends, and her happiness.

A sob wracked Leila's body as an overwhelming feeling of loneliness hit her, it was like nothing she had ever felt before, and as she cried she wished, wished for a miracle.

She wished she could be with her boys again.

♪ 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 ♪

The boys didn't know what was going on. One second they were in ambulances being carted away after having some nasty hot dogs and the next they were in a dark room, alone.

Luke was there longer. Not by much, a few seconds, a minute at most. Then Reggie and Alex appeared and Luke grinned as he hopped off the floor and rushed over to his friends.

"Boys! There you are!" Luke exclaimed wrapping them in a hug.

When he pulled away Alex and Reggie looked around in confusion, "Where are we?" Alex questioned his brows knitted.

"I don't know." Luke said shaking his head.

"What even happened to us?" Reggie asked trying to remember but it was all a blur.

Luke shook his head again, "I'm not sure. One second we were eating those street dogs, next, we were in ambulances and now we're here." Luke said gesturing to the dark room.

Alex frowned as he looked around the room again. It was pitch black, dim light coming through the middle of the room seemingly from nowhere, it didn't help them see much all they could see was the outlines of each other. The room wasn't exactly cold but it wasn't warm either it was... strange. The floor was grey from what Alex could tell.

"Yeah, where is here?" Alex asked despite knowing his friends wouldn't know. A horrifying realization dawned on him as he went through the recent events silently, "Are we dead?"

Luke and Reggie's faces fell as they came to the same realization. "Oh my god." Reggie breathed.

Alex's eyes widened again, a second realization coming over the blonde, "Leila."

Luke, not able to hear Alex clearly, spoke, "What?"

Alex focused on Luke, "Leila. She's alone."

Before any of the boys could say another word, Reggie walked away. He walked until he bumped into a wall, not even flinching at the impact, instead he turned around and fell onto the floor, bringing his knees to his chest as he took a deep breath.

Alex and Luke, worried about the boy, approached him, "Reggie, dude you alright?" Luke asked worriedly.

Reggie shook his head as he looked at his friends, tears welled in his eyes as he spoke, "I should have been there. I should have said yes, I should have gone with her, I should have-" Reggie cut himself off with a sob he barely held in.

"Hey, she's not alone." Luke told his friend as he sat next to him.

Alex stayed silent, he couldn't comfort his friend when he was feeling the same if not worse.

"She's got Jasper and all of her friends, her parents-" Alex had to scoff at this like they would be there for her, they never had been in the past. He was the one who went to all of her dance competitions, her talent shows, her dance practices, everything. He was the one who was there for her, it had never been their parents. Luke glanced at his friend in concern but continued to comfort Reggie, one at a time right? "She's got my parents, they've always loved her."

Reggie smiled at this, memories of Luke's parents spoiling Leila whenever they came over, Luke would always pout and whine 'what about me' to which Emily, Luke's mom, would wave him off and say 'what about you' or wave him off, roll her eyes and stress Leila about eating more.

"My point is, she's not alone, she will never be alone." Luke finished.

Reggie and Alex nodded although they all knew it was just to comfort them.

Leila was alone. She was alone the second they passed away, she was alone the second they ate those horrible hot dogs, and she would be alone for the rest of her life.

Of course, they didn't realize how short that time would be. How could they? They couldn't see the future.

Alex began to cry, finding it hard to breathe as he stressed over his sister and everything.

They had died. They were dead. Leila was alone, he was gone, they couldn't comfort her, they couldn't urge her to sing or dance when they practiced in the studio, they couldn't cuddle with her on the nights where she just wanted to be with him, they couldn't chase off every boy she dated (well tried to date) because they would never be good enough for their girl. They couldn't be with her.

It wasn't just Leila who lost someone that day. They lost someone too. They lost Leila. They lost their sunshine, their ray of light on days when they couldn't get through the day without her terrible jokes or just her smile that brightened up the room.

That day, Alex lost his twin.

Luke lost his best friend.

Reggie lost the love of his life.

They all lost their everything and as Reggie and Luke desperately tried to stop Alex from crying (which failed miserably) they stopped themselves from crying because they couldn't cry. It was wrong. They were the ones who had died, their families were the ones who were supposed to cry, Leila was the one who was supposed to cry, they were the ones who had lost the band. They had no right to cry.

At least that was what they told themselves to stop the tears from spilling.

They didn't know they would be reunited with their sunshine much sooner than they had expected and in a way they didn't expect at all.

How could they possibly know a random girl, who would become so much more, would reunite them with their girl?

♪ 𝟷,𝟸𝟷𝟻 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	13. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚎𝚗

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚞𝚖**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

꧁ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ꧂

It had been a couple of days, nearly a full week since the day it happened. Leila had a new routine, she woke up in the studio, she had one of the protein bars the boys had stashed there, she went to school, she came back, and she stared at the boys' things until eventually, she fell asleep. This routine was repeated daily, a few times Bobby would come over, leaving the second he saw her enter the studio, other times Jasper would text her, mostly asking how she was other times he would ask where she was, she answered none of the messages leaving him on read and avoiding him at school until today.

It started like normal, well Leila's new normal anyhow. She got off the couch which she never bothered to turn into the bed, she would change into one of the two outfits she had left, she threw her hair in a messy bun and grabbed her protein bar, grimacing when she noticed she only had a few left. She ate the protein bar as she picked up her backpack and threw it over her shoulder, her stomach grumbling with every move. The protein bar wasn't nearly enough food for the girl not when that's all she would eat all day however Leila couldn't find it in her to care much.

By the time she arrived at the bus stop she had finished the bar, throwing the wrapper in the nearby trash can before hopping on the bus, avoiding eye contact, and ignoring the whispers as she sat down in the very back. Alone. Like she always was nowadays.

Once she arrived at school, minutes began to pass by like seconds as she numbly passed through her classes paying little to no attention to the teachers who would sigh and give her pitying looks as they spoke.

Before Leila knew it she was walking out of school, ready to head back to the bus to go back to the studio when someone grabbed onto her, the previous shout of her name having gone unheard by the girl.

Leila turned around to see who had grabbed onto her, shaking her out of the numb mood she should have been in for the rest of the day. Leila rolled her eyes when she found Jasper standing there. She should have known really. "What do you want Jasper?" Her voice was hoarse, sounding worse than she thought it would and she knew Jasper noticed, there was no way he couldn't, the grimace he tried to hide upon hearing her rough voice-only confirming it.

As she waited for him to answer her, she wondered when the last time she spoke was, before she could find the answer, Jasper spoke, "Are you coming to the competition today?"

Leila furrowed her brows. What competition? "What?"

Jasper seemed to be shocked that, even in her state, she had forgotten about the competition. "Only the biggest competition of our lives." Jasper replied.

Leila's eyes widened before they softened again as she thought it over for a second. Ah yes, the competition she had previously been excited about for weeks, training non-stop. A lot of things had changed in so little time and the girl hadn't even realized it. "I'm not going." Leila told him with no hesitance.

"What do you mean you're not going? Leila I know you're going through a really hard time right now but this could get you a scholarship, they wouldn't want you to-" Jasper was quickly cut off by Leila who was suddenly filled with rage.

"What they would want? They would want to be alive right now, Jasper, playing their music, but they can't so I'm sorry if me grieving over my best friends and my twin brother isn't important to you, but frankly I think me grieving is much more important than some stupid scholarship."

Without another word Leila turned and made to get away from the boy she used to call her dancer best friend however before she could, he called out to her once more. "Wait!"

Unable to stop herself, she turned back to him. "What Jasper? I'm gonna miss my bus."

His brows were furrowed however they were no longer furrowed in shock and confusion but concern. "Where are you staying?"

Leila was shocked, to say the least, and confused as well however she didn't let it show not for one second. Instead, she answered honestly, keeping her words short and her voice uncaring as she wished she had something to drink however she had stopped bringing water to school, stopped caring enough to even think about it. "The studio."

"You can't stay there Leila." Jasper told her softly, Leila scoffed, and went to argue when Jasper spoke again, "Your parents are worried. Let me take you to your house, please." He was desperate and concerned, that was clear.

Leila wanted to fight. She wanted to fight so badly. However her mind went to her bed in her room and the food they had, the curtains she could close to hide from everything including the sun, and she couldn't find it in herself to fight. She nodded weakly before answering. "Alright."

Jasper couldn't help it, he grinned. "Alright?"

Leila took a gulp and a deep breath before repeating herself. "Alright."

Jasper's grin grew until he saw Leila struggling to hold her backpack on her shoulder, her usual strength seemingly disappearing at that moment as his eyes widened, rushing to take the heavy backpack from her.

He immediately noticed when she was about to argue about it and stopped her. "I can carry it, Leila." He said it in a reassuring tone and ignored the annoyed huff and roll of her eyes that she offered in reply, instead he spoke again. "Come on let's take you home."

Leila nodded becoming numb again at the mention of that cursed word that was just about as bad as saying their names these days, after all, they were her home.

Jasper sighed as he noticed her change but said nothing as he walked the girl home, thankful that she would be somewhere he knew she would be safe, where instead of sending her desperate text messages where he could only hope she would reply he could go check on her himself.

He had never been invited to the band's studio, Leila's dance life and regular life were usually kept separate as Leila liked it, however, he wasn't giving her a choice anymore. She needed someone no matter what life they were apart of and he would gladly be that someone if it meant she wouldn't be alone.

꧁ 𝟷,𝟷𝟷𝟺 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ꧂


	14. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚞𝚖**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**꧁ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ꧂**

It didn't get any easier after she went back to her parents' house. If anything, life only got harder for Leila.

Instead of the numbness Leila had gotten far too used to, she became filled with rage, snapping at everyone and everything until her parents learned to leave her alone they avoided her. Everyone did. Everyone except Jasper.

In the mornings, Jasper talked to her at school, more than he ever had, after school he would walk her home on the way to his own home and he came over every day and no matter how many times she screamed at him, he never left. He only left when he wanted to and although Leila acted as if she hated it, it was nice. It was nice to have someone. But then Jasper got busy, he couldn't come over every day anymore, he rarely talked to her at school, he never walked her home and Leila once again became a shell, returning to her numbness before she could even truly begin to move on and get better.

So Leila did the same routine as before, get up, eat something, put her hair up in a messy bun, and leave for school. When she returned she went to her bedroom and stared at the walls where pictures of her boys were hung from before.

Currently, Leila was walking among the teenagers in the hallway, her backpack hanging heavily on her shoulder as she pushed through the crowd that seemed so impossibly happy. She couldn't even imagine being that happy despite knowing she had been that happy only two weeks ago.

As she walked she bumped into someone who merely grinned at her. It was a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, the classic popular girl, Leila vaguely recalled her name being Cassidy. The girl's eyes widened, "Oh my gosh! Have you been invited to my party?"

This was when Leila took notice of the fliers held in the girl's hands and confused she shook her head in response, unable to find the strength to speak.

Cassidy didn't seem to care as she practically shoved a flier into her hands, "Here! You have to come, it's going to be so much fun!" With that Cassidy rushed off and began to hand other people, who were far more likely to actually come to her party, fliers.

Leila sighed as she crumpled the flier without a second thought however as she went to toss it in the nearby trash can, she decided against it, shoving it into her backpack instead as she walked out of school desperately wanting to get home.

Once she arrived home she rushed up to her room and threw her backpack down beside her shut door before sitting on her bed. She found her eyes floating to her backpack, thoughts of the flier running through her mind before she groaned and got up, she picked up her backpack with another groan before throwing it onto her bed, sitting back down, and zipping it open. Leila hastily pulled out the flier and straightened it out, it was a bright neon pink that hurt Leila's eyes, big white letters in the center of the flier spelled out 'Cassidy's 18th Birthday Party' in a much smaller font that Leila found hard to read was 'Free Booze,' below that in a bigger font although still smaller than the first read 'Details On The Back.'

Leila thought this over for a moment, simply staring at the flier before setting it on her nightstand where she would later pick it repeatedly and stare at it some more before placing it back down before finally she decided to hell with it and looked at the date on the back of the flier that she hadn't bothered to look at, the date of the party was much sooner than she thought. It was in two days.

Leila didn't officially decide to go to the party until the day of the party however that party was merely the start of her newest downward spiral that led to her wrecking her life until eventually, it didn't exist.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Leila glanced at the flier as she laid on her bed, her unopened homework folder beside her. She let out a sigh as she figured what the hell.

Without another thought the blonde stood up and went to her closet, she picked out a black overall skirt, a plain white baggy long sleeve sweater, black tights, black combat boots with gold trim, and lastly a pair of gold hoop earrings that Reggie bought her as a joke one year after they teased girls who wore them.Leila looked at herself in the mirror, scrunching up her nose before she ruffled her hair a bit making it seem wild yet strategically styled.

With one last look in the mirror, Leila nodded and picked up the flier glancing it over a few times before stuffing it in her pocket just in case she forgot the address. The party was set to start in around fifteen minutes and based on the address which wasn't too familiar to Leila as it was in the nicer part of town, it would take her around twenty minutes on a bike, thirty if she walked.

As she made her way to her window to climb out of it and sneak away so her parents wouldn't know where she was off to, her eyes caught a picture of her, Reggie, Alex, and Luke on the beach, where the boys regularly played music for tips and fun.

Reggie was on Leila's left side, he had his arm thrown over her shoulder, Alex stood on her right with his arm over her other shoulder, meanwhile Luke stood next to Alex, and rather than having an arm thrown over the shoulder, they had their arms intertwined in between them. Each of them had big grins, a twinkle in Leila's eyes that hadn't been seen since that day.

Leila no longer recognized the girl in the photo, nobody did. She had changed. She missed her old self however she knew she wasn't going to get her old self back, she had gone with her boys just like a huge part of her soul and heart.

Leila huffed tearing her eyes away from the photo as she returned her focus to the current mission, escaping the house.

She climbed onto her bed and opened her window before taking the screen off, she placed the screen on her bed before swinging a leg over and beginning to climb out.

That one party was the start of it all.

That party was the start of Leila ruining her own life after losing her happiness. Perhaps if she had decided to stay home or if she had never been handed that flier, she would have found happiness again someday, she would have done more than survived until her last day, she would have lived.

If only Leila knew that when she took her first sip from that cup.

꧁ 𝟷,𝟷𝟾𝟷 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ꧂


	15. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎

**TRIGGER WARNING**

**alcohol abuse and cigarettes**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚞𝚖**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

After that first party, everything became a blur in Leila's life. Every night she went to a new party, every day she woke with a hangover, every night she danced with another person, every night she kissed someone that she could hardly remember, every night she tried to forget.

She rarely went to school anymore and she never saw Jasper let alone any of her other friends. She didn't want to. She couldn't.

She was fine.

That was what she told herself as she took that first mind-numbing sip every night.

It was fine. None of it mattered because once she took another sip she was numb, she was better, she was fine. She was no longer constantly on the verge of crying.

She was fine.

One morning, she woke not in her room where she somehow always found herself in the mornings, but on a bench in the park, her entire body shivering as her teeth chattered but it was fine.

It was fine because lately, she hasn't wanted to be at her home anyways. Her parents constantly reminded her she was a disappointment, that she was throwing away her life and she hated it because they didn't understand. They didn't care.

Leila groaned as she sat up, wrapping herself in her jacket as she clutched onto it. "Leila?" A voice called hesitantly, unsure if it was truly her, sounding scared to find out.

Leila looked over and found Jasper standing there. Leila rolled her eyes as she clutched her jacket closer like a shield, her knuckles turning white from the tight grip. "What do you want Jasper?"

Jasper studied her for a moment before speaking hesitantly, "Are you..." Jasper paused not sure what to say, he took a step closer to her before he asked the question replaying in his mind as he looked at his best friend, "did you drink last night?"

Leila chuckled bitterly. "I drink every night Jasper." Leila looked him over, his tense figure, his tight-lipped frown, the worry in his eyes that was far too obvious. "You should try it, it's fun."

Jasper's frown deepened at this. "I'm not drinking, Leila and you shouldn't either." Memories of Leila telling people no to a drink played through his mind. She said she would never drink because she saw what it made people and she didn't want to become someone she didn't want to be because of a drink.

Leila rolled her eyes, "Oh loosen up Jasper." She stood up stumbling slightly as she placed a hand on her aching head, this is the part she hated. The hangover. But it was worth it.

"Woah!" Jasper exclaimed as he rushed to help the girl who continued to stumble.

Just as Jasper's helping hands were placed on Leila's shoulder she shoved him away, a fierce glare focused on him. "I don't need your help." She spat out like poison.

"Yes, you do Leila, if not mine than someone. Please. This isn't good for you." Jasper begged, hoping his friend would see the wrong in her ways, how this change in here wasn't a good one.

"This is the only thing that helps." Leila replied, "And you can't tell me what to do."

Jasper stared. It was all he could do. Just stare. He stared at her as she stumbled off, none of his words got through to her like he hoped they would. And he saw it then.

Leila wasn't Leila anymore. She was different. She was completely different.

And she didn't even realize it.

That night Leila lit her first cigarette, one of the smokers from school offered it to her when she went to grab her second or third cup of whatever they had at the latest party and she shrugged and took it from the boy who grinned and lit it for her before she brought it to her mouth.

That night she found her newest obsession. Later on, she stole a pack from one of the smokers who couldn't handle their drink as they stumbled around blindly outside.

That night she became less of herself.

That night she lost another part of her.

♪ 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢 ♪

Leila started bringing people home. She didn't care anymore she just wanted to be numb again because the drinks were good but they weren't helping as much as they used to.

Cigarettes and people were the only things that helped.

She was able to bring people home for a week before her parents noticed.

They noticed at the worst time. When she was sitting on a girl's lap, their lips connected as they made out on her bed.

Then just as Leila began to wrap her arms around her neck, holding onto the girl she vaguely remembers to be called Amber the door was pushed open, the soft knock her mother had done having gone unnoticed by both girls.

"What the hell is this?!" Her mother shouted as she stared at her daughter kissing another girl.

Leila jumped as she turned to look at her mother. The girl beneath her didn't care she simply smirked as she ran her fingers across her thighs. "Hi mom." Leila offered a nervous grin.

Her mother stared at her some more before turning and shouting for her husband.

As Leila heard the shout of "Edward!" Leave her mother's mouth, she froze. She realized she was in deep trouble as she pushed herself off the girl, offering her an apologetic look as she rolled her eyes and huffed.

"What?! I'm busy!" Her father shouted back from downstairs and for a moment Leila thought she was in the clear but her mother was determined.

"You need to come up here!" Her mother glanced at Leila for a moment before facing the stairs again, "Your daughter is throwing away her life!"

Leila could imagine her father huffing before he stood up and began to stomp up the stairs, she winced with every stomp, scared of what would happen next.

Spoiler alert her father was not happy.

Leila couldn't remember it clearly, all she knew was she cried as she fought with her father, he told her something along the lines of 'I won't have a freak in my home' to which she said fine and grabbed a bag, shoving whatever she could inside of it before leaving her home with the slam of the front door as she threw it closed stuck in her mind as her father called after her, "And don't come back!"

She cried as she walked to the nearby park, finding herself sitting on the bench as tears ran down her face, sobs wracking her body as she held herself close.

She knew they wouldn't accept her. They didn't accept Alex when they found out he liked boys, why would they accept her?

She sniffled, her father's voice calling her a freak echoing in her mind as she held her body close to her wishing she could just disappear.

It was later that it truly hit her.

She had nowhere to go.

♪ 𝟷,𝟷𝟽𝟾 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	16. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**𝚜𝚒𝚡 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚞𝚖**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

Two weeks after Leila was kicked out, Jasper found out. He urged her to get help, offered the couch in his home, he begged her to let him find someplace for her until finally, a week later he gave up.

He didn't give up easily of course. He never did.

He gave up after they fought.

♪ 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 ♪

It had been three days since Jasper found out she was kicked out and every day since his discovery, he came to find her and he begged her every single day to get help, to come to stay with him, to do something.

Every day Leila denied his help, his pity. She didn't want any of it. Besides, it wasn't like he really cared.

Leila wasn't surprised when he showed up at the beach on the fourth day as she stared out at the waves as they splashed on the sand, a lit cigarette in her mouth as she sat on the bench she had slept on the night before and planned to sleep on tonight.

At first, Leila didn't notice him. He was silent as she wished he always was recently, he sat down next to her without a word, and then she turned to see who it was and jumped nearly dropping her cigarette.

"Again?" Leila complained, tired of his pleading.

"I'm gonna come here every day until you agree, Leila." Jasper answered never looking at her.

Leila rolled her eyes. "I don't need any help, I'm fine." She took another drag of her cigarette as Jasper shook his head.

"Yes, you do Leila." He paused for a moment as smoke passed over his face, "You need help."

"No, I don't!" Leila snapped with a glare.

"Yes, you do. Please just let me help. I want to help."

Leila wasn't sure why she did it. He had said the same thing a million times before but this time it just... got to her. "Why do you care so much?!"

Jasper was shocked that much was clear. "Because you're my friend." Jasper replied as if it was obvious.

Leila scoffed and shook her head before saying something that she wished she didn't, something she didn't even mean. "Well, you're not mine. You're nothing to me so just leave me the hell alone."

Jasper's eyes widened, tears welling in his eyes.

Jasper had moved to Los Angeles as a kid and he wasn't bullied at school however he wasn't treated well either, he was ignored, avoided by everyone for being different, Leila was not only the only person who didn't treat him as if he wasn't even there, she was the only one who tried to his friend.

To hear her say that he wasn't her friend, that he was nothing to her... it hurt.

Jasper was silent for a moment, unable to say anything and not knowing what to say. As tears threatened to spill, he finally spoke, "Fine." His voice was quiet and weak. Leila hated it.

Leila wanted to apologize wanted to say something but she didn't. She let him get away. Let him walk away from her after she broke his heart.

She lost him and it was her fault.

Tears fell down Leila's face as she watched Jasper walk away until he was out of sight and then a sob forced its way out of her.

♪ 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 ♪

That night Leila cried herself to sleep wishing she could just take back her words. Wishing. That was all she could do and she hated it.

The next morning she made a promise to herself. She was done drinking, done drowning her feelings in someone's lips, she was done smoking.

She wanted to get better.

For them.

For all of them.

But most importantly for herself, because she didn't recognize the person in the mirror anymore and it hurt worse than losing all of her friends because she lost herself.

The next day, she was sitting on the sand, the waves crashing in front of her as she enjoyed the breeze in her hair. Her tears had finally stopped however she couldn't bring herself to do anything, to go to school or even walk around.

Suddenly, a ball hit her side, snapping her out of the trance she was in as she jumped.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" A strangely familiar voice called.

Leila looked up, picking up the ball from beside her and forcing a smile as she connected eyes with a strangely familiar girl. Leila wondered where she knew her from however she couldn't put her finger on it. "It's fine!" Leila told her, "Do I know you from somewhere?"

The girl tilted her head, gazing down at the blonde with those beautiful eyes. Leila gulped nervously before the girl's eyes widened. "You're Leila, right? The drummer's sister?"

Leila froze as she remembered the girl. She was the one from that night, what was her name... "Uh yeah." Leila responded hesitantly.

"I heard what happened to them. I'm sorry for your loss." The girl said with a soft grin.

Leila nodded, finding it hard to speak.

"I'm Rose, in case you forgot." She offered a hand to the blonde who let a smirk take over her face.

"I could never forget your name." It was a lie but hey the girl was beautiful and Leila couldn't even imagine forgetting the name that was now engraved in her mind. Then again, when she first met this girl, she still had him. She wasn't interested in anyone else.

Rose chuckled. "You totally forgot." Rose teased her as she sat down beside her on the sand.

"Maybe." Leila replied. "So who are you here with?" She asked curiously.

Rose shuffled, "Just some friends. I didn't really want to come but they made me..."

Leila nodded in understanding. "They made you come with a guy, right?" Her 'friends' had done the same before, said she needed the push because she was shy.

Rose sighed. "Yeah." Rose couldn't help but stare at the girl until someone calling her name caught her attention; it was one of her friends, Allison. "I have to go." She sent the girl an apologetic look as she stood up.

"It's fine." Leila told the girl.

Rose's brows raised, a smirk on her face that couldn't be good. "Can I have my ball back?" She gestured to the ball Leila just realized she was still holding, her tone teasing.

A blush appeared on Leila's face that made Rose giggle. "Oh right. Here you go." She held it up to the girl who took it from her with a quick thanks.

Rose went to walk away from the blonde however she seemed to change her mind as she turned around, "Do you want to hang out sometime?"

Leila's eyes widened. "Uh s-sure."

Rose grinned. "Great." With that, Rose left the blonde blushing on the sand.

Leila blushed as she turned back to the waves, focusing on something else in hopes it would help the bright blush on her cheeks however her mind went back to the girl.

For the first time in weeks, Leila felt good. Truly good.

♪ 𝟷,𝟷𝟿𝟷 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪

Hey weirdos! So in this Rose is going to be bisexual, we're getting closer to Leila being reunited with the boys however I still have a lot planned for the past. I hope you all enjoyed these chapters, if you did be sure to...

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	17. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚞𝚖**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

Leila shivered on the sand as she sat on her bench and watched the waves crash down. It was around eight o'clock and it was starting to become cold on the beach as it always did after it got dark. Leila still wasn't used to it. She wasn't sure she ever would be.

Instead of focusing on the cold, Leila gazed out at the sea as she held the blanket Rose had given her close, it is the only source of warmth other than Leila's own clothes.

Meanwhile, the Patterson's walked along the beach after their dinner, grins on their faces for the first time since their son had passed away. One of Emily's friends had urged them to go out, offering to watch Luke's dog, Buddy, who had become theirs after his passing, while they went out for dinner. Reluctantly they agreed and went out to get dinner at their favorite restaurant at the pier before going for a walk on the beach. Their hands were intertwined as they walked, Emily's shoes and his own held in Mitch's freehand, with Emily's free hand she gripped her cardigan close to her, shivering slightly in the cold air.

As they walked, they caught sight of a teen girl sitting on a bench, her wind flowing in the cold breeze, a blanket wrapped tightly around her as she gazed out at the sea, at first they thought nothing of it, and then they saw an overflowing bag that seemed like it may burst sitting beside her and they quickly realized this girl was not merely sitting on the beach, she was sleeping there.

"Poor dear." Emily said as she shook her head, she couldn't tear her eyes from the young girl, she was probably around Luke's age and she couldn't imagine what she would do if Luke was in that situation, another reason she couldn't tear her gaze away was that the girl seemed awfully familiar.

Mitch hummed beside his wife and went to say something when the lighthouse's lights flashed over the girl, they were only there for a moment but it was enough. Enough for Emily to realize exactly who it was as the girl grimaced, bringing her arm up to hide from the bright light that had been shined over her.

Emily let out a gasp she couldn't hold in as she released Mitch's hand, Mitch turned to his wife, having not seen what she had but concerned about his wife, "What's wrong Ems?"

"That's Leila!" Immediately, Mitch looked over at the girl who had turned to look at them upon hearing her name. It was indeed Leila Jacobs.

Leila's eyes widened as she realized who it was, she looked around seemingly for an escape, it was too dark, too dangerous for her to be wandering right now and she didn't really want to. A quiet voice in the back of her head wondered if they could help her as she watched at them, waiting to see what they would do next.

Mitch and Emily's pace picked up as they continued walking, a new destination in mind as they both thought the same thing, they need to help Leila.

"Leila dear!" Emily called upon reaching her. "What are you doing here so late?" She offered a comforting motherly grin to the nervous girl who shuffled on the bench.

Leila pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, wondering if she should lie or not. "Uh, I'm... sleeping here tonight." And the night before, and probably tomorrow as well, Leila didn't mention that part.

Emily frowned, "Are things alright at home?" Emily couldn't help but ask. She knew the Jacobs had never been the perfect family, they weren't nearly as bad as Reggie's family, the poor dear, but they were bad enough to kick their son out because of something he couldn't change.

Leila let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, they're great, after all, their disappointment isn't there." She regretted the words the second they left her mouth, it wasn't a lie however she didn't want to worry Emily and Mitch. They had always been like second parents to her, and they were clearly better than her actual parents.

"Do you have someplace to go, Leila?" Mitch asked the young blonde sternly but calm and kind.

Leila pursed her lips, not wanting to lie to them but not wanting to tell the truth either. "I have it handled."

That was answer enough for the Patterson's who glanced at each other, having a silent conversation with their eyes before Mitch and Emily nodded to each other and turned their attention back to the young teen. "Do you want to come stay with us?" Emily asked softly, "You can stay as long as you need to."

Leila was hesitant as she stared at Luke's parents. As she stared she thought of what everyone would tell her right now.

Jasper would probably either say yes for her or give her a 'nudge' in the right direction.

Luke would beg her to come stay with them, using the sister card on her.

Reggie would definitely say yes for her or offer her support in unsaid words.

Alex wouldn't say a word, they would have a silent conversation which would end in Alex nodding to her, telling her what he thinks she should say without speaking a word.

Rose would pull her aside and encourage her, tell her it would be good for her, that she could finally get the help she wanted, she needed, and get better, perhaps she would bribe her with being able to hang out more which wouldn't really contribute to her decision but it would make her laugh.

God Leila could really use a laugh right now.

Mitch and Emily watched the girl carefully as they waited for her answer, Emily shuffled on her feet silently, her nerves getting the best of her. She wanted to help the girl because she would want someone to do the same for Luke. She wasn't sure what she would say to the girl if she denied their help, she could only hope she would accept it.

Emily had a feeling Leila needed the help more than she would ever know.

Leila took a deep breath as she looked from her shoes and nodded hesitantly before realizing they couldn't see it clearly in the dark of the night. "A-alright sure." Leila cursed herself for her stutter as Emily offered a grin that caused Leila to release a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

This was the start of something new. Something better.

♪ 𝟷,𝟷𝟶𝟺 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	18. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚞𝚖**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

Leila stood by the home phone charger at the Patterson home, the phone pressed to her ear as she spoke to the person on the other side.

Leila rolled her eyes as the person told her the same thing they had said a million times before. "I know, I know."

"You need a friend, Leila." Rose told her softly.

"I have you, don't I?" Leila responded as she always did.

Rose had been encouraging her (Pushing her) to apologize to Jasper ever since Leila told her about what had happened between the two friends, if you could call them friends anymore.

Rose sighed, having heard this reply before, "Of course you do, Leila, but you need a friend." Rose emphasized the friend part making Leila smirk slightly.

"Oh yeah? What am I gonna do, complain about you?" Leila teased.

"No just... you need someone to talk to that you can't distract with kisses." Rose told her.

"Right." Leila frowned.

Rose chuckled on the other end. "Come on, you've already called him. It'd be rude to cancel now."

Leila let out an exaggerated groan. "Alright, alright fine."

For the rest of the call, Leila had a pout on her face that is until Rose promised to come hang out later that day if Leila went which is generally when Leila decided to go although not entirely because of Rose's promise.

After around thirty minutes, Leila left the Patterson house to go meet with Jasper at the cafe near their old dance studio. The dance studio was called Abby's Dance, it was where they met as children when they both started dance, it was abandoned now, had been for years, however, the friends always went there to hang out and reminisce.

Leila straightened her blue Jean jacket that fell against her light blue sweater as she walked into the small cafe, the bell rang as the door was opened, closing behind her with a loud squeak that made Leila wince, she looked around for Jasper and easily found him in the nearly empty cafe, he was sitting in their usual spot in one of the back booths. He wasn't looking towards the door, he was looking at his drink, no doubt tea, as he stirred it

Leila took a deep breath before she made her way over to him, as she got within five feet of the booth, he noticed the sounds of her boots hitting the floor getting louder as it got closer and looked up, hiding a smile when he saw her appearance. She was better, that much was obvious, even more obvious was the fact that she was trying and that meant more to Jasper than anything else.

"Leila." Jasper breathed out.

Leila grinned nervously as she sat down across from him. "Hey, Jasper." She began to fiddle with her fingers nervously as Jasper stared at her.

Jasper struggled for words to say to the girl. "H-how are you?" He asked not knowing what else to say.

"Better." She answered briefly.

"That's good, really good." Jasper grinned at her.

Leila nodded, shuffling in her seat. "So... I wanted to apologize, I need to apologize."

Jasper frowned. "You don't have to Leila."

"No, I do." Leila replied sternly, Jasper backed off knowing the girl wouldn't give up when she's this determined. Leila took a deep breath before she spoke again, "What I said, it was wrong and not true at all. You're my friend Jasper, you're my best friend." Leila reached for Jasper's hand which he offered to her as he smiled softly upon hearing her words, "I was in a really bad place and I don't want to lose you because of it."

Jasper stayed silent for a few minutes, which seemed like hours to Leila, his head was down, not allowing the girl to connect eyes with him, making the blonde nervous as she watched him curious and beyond nervous. Jasper looked up at her and... grinned. "Took you long enough."

Leila's eyes widened in shock, "W-what?" Leila asked in shock, she sounded breathless.

Jasper chuckled. "I'm sorry it's not funny." Jasper apologized briefly before continuing, "You never lost me, Leila. I just gave you some time. I knew you would come back to your senses eventually." His tone was teasing but genuine and serious.

Leila smiled softly. "You've always known me better than I know myself huh?" Leila asked rhetorically. The only people who have ever known Leila better than Jasper was, of course, Alex, Reggie, and Luke.

Jasper chuckled. "Somebody's gotta get you back to your senses when you go all crazy."

Leila grinned and went to say something, probably a joke perhaps a thank you, however before she could she began to fall into a coughing fit which immediately concerned Jasper who released her hand and leaned forward in worry.

"Are you okay?" Jasper asked worriedly.

Leila finally stopped coughing and waved him off, "I'm fine just... allergies."

They both knew it wasn't allergies however neither of them wanted to admit it, especially Leila, so Jasper nodded and relaxed into his seat however he kept a close eye on the blonde, his worry shielded from her view although still there. "So you seeing anyone?"

Leila threw her head back laughing, ignoring the pain that came with it as her throat ached. "Yes yeah, I'm uh seeing someone." A blush came to her face as she answered her friend who was sure to tease her.

"Ooh!" Jasper teased, "Who??" He asked leaning forward in curiosity.

Leila chuckled, her voice becoming quiet as she told her friend. "Her names Rose." Despite Jasper already knowing of her tendency to... appreciate the same gender, she had always been nervous to bring it up despite his own tendencies. They both liked both genders and, although proud of it, rarely talked about it, especially in public.

Jasper nodded seriously. "Mhm, and how did you two meet?" When Leila chuckled, Jasper grinned. "What? I need all the details!" He teased some more.

"We met on the beach, her ball hit me and she came to apologize and asked me if I wanted to hang out sometime." Leila blushed as she told her friend what had happened in a hushed voice so as to not let anyone in the cafe hear.

Jasper's grin widened, happy for his friend. "Ooh! A true love story." He joked making Leila laugh.

"I've missed you Jas." Leila told him softly when her laughing fit relaxed.

Jasper offered a soft grin as he reached for her hands again, intertwining them over the table as he spoke, "I've missed you too."

♪ 𝟷,𝟷𝟷𝟸 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪

Hey weirdos! Just to be clear, chapter fourteen is eight weeks after the Orpheum and this one is ten weeks. Anyways I hope you enjoyed these chapters, if you did be sure to...

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Be a weirdo! Buh bye! ❤️❤️


	19. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

**𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙶𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂**

**brief mention of cancer and unknown sickness**

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

It had been two weeks since Leila apologized to Jasper, three weeks since she started having coughing fits, and one week since she had admitted (to herself) that this was more than allergies.

Despite knowing and admitting if only to herself that it was more than allergies, she refused to go to the doctors. She hated doctors and it didn't help that the last time she had been around a doctor was the day her brother and best friends died. Yeah, that definitely didn't help.

Currently, Leila was sitting on her bed at the Patterson home, they had given her the guest bedroom and let her do whatever she wanted to it, she hadn't changed much, only added personal touches like the few pictures of her best friends and brother that she had left were hung on the wall.

She wasn't alone this afternoon like she usually was. It was a Saturday so Jasper was able to come over as well as Rose who had become fast friends with Jasper.

She sat on the bed with Rose while Jasper sat in the bean bag chair that Emily and Mitch had given to her, it used to be in Luke's room in fact it was Leila's favorite spot in Luke's room.

"So how's the crew?" Leila asked Jasper curiously as she reached for her water bottle.

Jasper watched her closely as he answered, "They're good. They miss you a lot." He hoped now that she was feeling better and more like herself, she would come back, if not to their dance team than to dancing in general.

Leila hummed and went to say something however the water hadn't helped the itch in her throat like she hoped and she began to cough, dropping her water bottle, which was, luckily for her, closed, one of her hands went to cover her mouth as the other held onto the comforter on the bed as she hunched over, coughing wildly.

Once she finally stopped she straightened up and took a deep breath as Rose rubbed circles into her back, having moved closer to her when she started coughing due to her worry. "I'm good, I'm good." Her voice cracked as she spoke proving her words wrong if they didn't already know, Leila reached for her water bottle with shaky hands however before she could grab it Jasper had jumped up from the bean bag chair and grabbed it for her, handing it to her with soft concerned eyes.

"Here." He said before she took it.

Leila grinned weakly as she took the water bottle from her friend, she opened the cap and took a sip before thanking him quietly.

Jasper stayed quiet for a moment before speaking, keeping his tone soft but firm. "You need to see someone Leila."

Leila shook her head as she put her water bottle down on the bedside table, "No I don't. I'm fine." She told him brushing his concern off.

"He's right, you really should go see someone." Rose spoke up softly as she continued rubbing circles on the girls back.

Leila sighed. "I'm fine."

Before they could say anything, the girl fell into another coughing fit which made both her friends, although one was much more than just a friend, frown. "This-" Jasper paused to gesture to his friend's appearance as she straightened up once again, "is not fine."

"I'm not going to a doctor, Jasper." Leila told her friend sternly before she shook her head, her tone becoming softer in a blink of an eye, "I can't."

Jasper sighed, knowing his friend was scared. He didn't want to push her when she's scared like this however he was scared too, he was scared for her, he was scared of what might happen if she doesn't go to a doctor. "I know, I know but please at least think about it." Jasper paused for a moment to bring Leila's full attention to him and as their eyes connected he added, "For me." His words had meaning, a meaning Rose knew was there but couldn't understand, a meaning only they could understand.

Leila sighed and nodded. "Alright, I'll think about it."

Jasper nodded as he sat back down. "Thank you." He told her softly.

When they were ten, two, or three years after Leila and Jasper met, Jasper's father passed away due to cancer. He might have survived had he returned to the doctor, any doctor, after his diagnosis. He was a good man and a great father, he treated Leila like family and the only memories she had of him were good ones. This was part of the reason Jasper was so scared, so worried, and it was part of the reason Leila agreed.

After this, the trio continued talking, Leila stayed quiet as her throat ached although she offered smiles and laughter to fill the void that should have had her words. Rose and Jasper frowned at first but eventually, they relaxed, hoping it wasn't as bad as it seemed or at the very least the girl would agree to get help. Jasper wasn't the only one scared for the blonde.

♪ 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 ♪

It was after dinner when it happened, Rose and Jasper had left just before Emily and Mitch announced that dinner was ready, Leila was sitting on her bed just relaxing as she read a book Rose brought her, it was interesting and she was starting to get into it when her throat had an itch, an itch that had become all too familiar to the girl however this time it was worse, much worse.

Leila got up as she coughed into her hand and went into the bathroom to get some toilet paper as she didn't have Kleenex in the room at the moment, she grabbed it and began coughing into it as she fell onto the toilet which was luckily closed.

After around two minutes of nearly nonstop coughing filled with gasps and tears she couldn't hold back, Leila took the toilet paper away from her mouth, her eyes widening at the sight of red.

That was when she knew she needed help. There could be no more waiting, no more hoping it would go away.

This was serious and she couldn't hide it anymore.

The next morning, she told Mitch and Emily what happened and exactly how bad her coughing fits had become, later on, they told her she had a doctors appointment set for next week, the soonest the doctor could get her in. The rest of the breakfast was silent as Leila dwelled in her thoughts, her feelings occupied with nervousness and fear.

It was that night when she admitted she was scared. She didn't admit it to her friends, nor to Mitch or Emily, she admitted it to the darkness of her room, and in her mind, she admitted it to Reggie, Alex, and Luke.

As she fell asleep that night, she thought of them and for the first time in months, her dreams of them were just that dreams, they weren't haunting memories or terrifying nightmares, they were dreams that comforted her and wrapped her in warmth and safety when they couldn't and when she woke up she swore it was their doing, that in some way they were there for her.

♪ 𝟷,𝟸𝟷𝟾 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪

Hey weirdos! This is... this made me sad to write and the next chapter will only be worse so... get ready for that.

Despite the sadness of this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it! If you did be sure to...

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Be a weirdo! Buh bye! ❤️❤️


	20. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙶𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂

**Unknown sickness,**

**death,**

**blood,**

**brief mentions of ambulances**

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

It was finally here! After months of trying, Leila was getting her own place. It was a cheap rundown apartment but it was hers. All she had to do was pick up keys, which is what she was doing now.

It had been a year since the deaths of her best friends a little over a week ago, a week spent in silence, hidden away in her room at the Patterson's with only their pictures to keep her company.

But that was the past now.

Leila walked down the street dressed in a plain gray t-shirt that was tucked into her black jeans, she wore a blue Jean jacket over the shirt and a pair of worn-out sneakers on her feet. Her purse swung on her shoulder with every step, she waited at a stop sign for the signal that she could walk across the road and when the signal was there, she began to walk.

Halfway across the road, Leila stopped without thinking as she felt an itch in her throat that had become all too familiar, she scrambled for the Kleenex she kept in her purse. She pressed the kleenex to her mouth just in time as she broke into an uncontrollable fit of coughs, a few people noticed but ignored her, some even moving faster to get away from the girl.

Leila scrunched her nose as she took the Kleenex away to find red on it. She hated this. Ever since her diagnosis, she was constantly coughing. She couldn't go anywhere without some Kleenex, her friends were constantly worried about her, and to make things worse she couldn't sing anymore. She could hardly ever play her piano either, she grew tired far too easily which also ruled out dancing.

Just as Leila stuffed the dirty Kleenex into her purse, she realized where she was, the honking of the waiting cars becoming suddenly clear as her eyes widened. She looked up just in time to hear the sound of screeching tires as bright lights approached her.

She let out a gasp as she fell to the floor, her eyes blinked rapidly despite feeling as if everything was going much slower than usual, she watched the car roll away and then she looked down and saw the horrifyingly familiar red of blood. Her eyes widened as he raised her shaky hand to find blood. She was bleeding.

She had a strangely knowing feeling in her chest. She knew what was going to happen before it happened.

She was going to die.

It wasn't long in Leila's mind before the ambulances came, putting her on a gurney and wheeling her into the ambulance just as they had her brother and best friends, she heard the paramedics talking over her as the sound of machines beeping filled the air.

They were talking to her, she realized. Wait no they were asking her something. But what? Leila couldn't make out any of their words as her eyes became heavy until she couldn't bear to keep them open.

With a deep breath she closed her eyes and then she heard it, one of the machines flatlined, the paramedics shouted above her as they tried to save her. Leila would have laughed if she was still alert enough, they couldn't save her. She was gone.

Sure enough, Leila quickly became fully unconscious as the paramedics pulled into the nearby hospital despite it being too late for her.

Darkness. That was all she saw. Her life didn't flash before her eyes like in the movies, she didn't feel terrible pain, she didn't feel anything really, and she didn't see anything either. There was just... nothing. Leila didn't know if she found that comforting or terrifying, perhaps both if that's possible.

As she fell into this darkness filled with nothing, Leila briefly wondered how Rose would react, Jasper, her friends, her parents... she didn't know who she would miss more just as she didn't know who would miss her more.

And then she wondered if she would be able to sing and dance and play music. She missed it all so much.

Finally, Leila was at peace as she went to sleep in the darkness not knowing when she would wake she would still be in the darkness, she would stay there for what wouldn't seem like long but was really beyond long.

♪ 𝙻𝚎𝚒𝚕𝚊'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

When I woke up I was in a dark room. Or it seemed like a room however it didn't end. There was a dim light that seemed to flicker in the middle of the room that allowed me to somewhat see, as it flickered on I caught sight of the blood on my clothes and my eyes widened.

What happened? I wondered as I tried to remember. There was blood on the Kleenex and then a car was coming towards me and then- I let out a gasp as I came to the realization, tears welled in my eyes and quickly began to fall.

I died.

But where was I now? I wondered as I looked around the room some more. There was no end in sight although I couldn't see much of the room with the dim lighting being the only source of lighting in the entire room, the rest was pitch black.

"Hello?!" I called desperately as I walked around. "Hello?! Is there anyone there?!" I called loudly.

I continued to call for help for a couple of minutes before I collapsed onto the ground with a sigh of defeat.

Wait a second... if I was dead did that mean...

Can I sing?

Curiously, I straightened up, my palms were suddenly sweaty as I stood up. I took a deep breath before I started to sing one of the band's song that Luke had been working on, it was called Bright. Luke had never finished it, he said he had some tweaks to do, things he wanted to change, things he wasn't sure and he also didn't think it fit the band's style however he had shown it to me and I adored it and had asked him to teach me to sing it.

I never forgot it. It was engraved in my memory forever.

"Sometimes I think I'm fallin' down, I wanna cry, I'm calling out-" I paused to clear my throat which was scratchy and aching, I ignored the pain as I continued, desperately hoping that by some miracle I could sing. "For one more try to feel ali-" I was cut off by a cough I couldn't hold in and once more I fell to the ground, this time in a fit of coughs.

When I pulled my hand away from my mouth, I was shocked. There was no blood like I had expected however there was pain.

I gasped for air, taking a few deep breaths before I chuckled bitterly.

Even in death, I was in misery. I just can't get a break, can I?

♪ 𝟷,𝟷𝟼𝟻 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	21. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**𝚕𝚘𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜, 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟺**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

Leila wasn't sure what happened. It seemed like lately she never knew what had happened. All she knew was that one second she was in that dark room alone and next she was falling into an alley, she let out a tiny scream as she hit the ground, curling around herself in instinct before clearing her throat and standing up.

She brushed herself off and looked around curiously, confused about where she was and how she got there. She was in a small alleyway, posters, and graffiti all over the wall and she heard a tiny unfamiliar voice telling her something.

"It's time." It said confusing Leila as she looked around for the source but found nobody around other than the people walking by outside the alley.

With her nose scrunched she walked out of the alleyway, looking around in confusion before she spotted a newspaper stand. She rushed over and tried to pick up the paper, frowning when she couldn't, instead, she stood over it and stared at it, reading it silently.

_**Los Angeles Times** _

Something has spilled on the exact date, stopping Leila from reading it however luckily for her the year was clear.

_**2014** _

That's impossible. Leila thought immediately, her eyes widened in shock. It couldn't be 2014, it was just 1996! She had been in that room for a few minutes not eighteen years!

This was insane.

Leila looked around, stumbling back from the newspaper stand only to bump into someone— or at least that's what Leila had expected to happen, instead, she fell through him, falling onto the concrete sidewalk as the man walked away with nothing but a shudder, not knowing what had happened.

Leila released a deep shocked breath, she had just fallen through someone! Wait, if she had died, did that mean she was a ghost now? What happened to heaven and hell, all that stuff? Was this what really happened?

Her mind went to her grandmother, Layla, wondering if this is what happened to her after her death.

Before she could think anymore about her sweet grandmother she caught sight of a guy about her age, maybe a bit younger, practically flying by on his skateboard, he had long hair, surprisingly long for a male though Leila liked it. He went right through her, like the other man had, not evening shivering at the feeling however Leila did. Somehow she knew he was a good guy.

She smiled softly, she wished he could see her, maybe she could make a friend in this strange new world she had been thrown into... or more accurately dropped into. Fell? Leila wasn't sure.

Standing up, she decided if this was where souls went after death then her friends must be here. She had to find them.

Determination filled her as she walked down the sidewalk, she had a mission now, something she could focus on. Finding her family. Maybe along the way she could learn a few things about being a ghost-like how to pick things up, that might help...

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**𝚕𝚘𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜, 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟻**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

A year passed by faster than Leila thought it would with no luck. They were nowhere to be found. But she didn't give up, she continued to look. She even went to their studio for the first time since months before she died, and she found it completely different.

Everything was gone.

Well not really gone, the boys and even some of her things were up in the loft, including her piano. She grinned and picked it up softly, running her fingers over the keys and finding dust on them. It hasn't been used in a long time, probably since the boys' deaths. She had stuffed it into the loft in hopes of forgetting.

She placed it back down as she heard a noise downstairs, she carefully made her way down and found a young girl sitting on the big piano bench which definitely was not there before she died, beside her sat what she guessed was her mother.

"Mommy! Mommy! Play something please!" The girl begged with a grin.

The woman smiled at her daughter, "As long as you play with me."

Leila listened for a moment as the mother and daughter duo began to play a song, something familiar. That had been on Sunset Curves demo... Leila grinned. Sunset Curve hadn't been forgotten.

Before she knew it, the song had ended. "You did great Julie." The woman told the young girl, Julie.

Julie beamed up at her mother, "Thanks, mom!"

Before Leila could hear what happened next, she rushed off not wanting to intrude on the special moment. She poofed out after she got outside the studio, that was one thing she had picked up. She could teleport. She teleported or poofed back to the streets of Hollywood to continue her search.

After hours of searching, she sat down on a bench with a sigh. Just as she began to relax she heard a loud scream and a squeal immediately teleporting her back to the day she died, Leila didn't let it get to her as she jumped up and saw the skater boy she had gotten used to seeing skating around the streets get run over by a car.

Leila's eyes widened in horror and she was about to go after the skater despite knowing she probably wouldn't be able to help, it was more instinct to her, before she could someone grabbed onto her.

For the first time in a year, someone actually touched her.

She turned around to look at the culprit in shock and confusion to find a strange man dressed in fancy clothing and... a top hat? What was he in a costume or something?

Strangely enough, the man actually looked at her. Like directly at her. "I've been looking for you, you're a hard ghost to find." He told her.

"What?" Leila furrowed her brows, "Who are you?"

"Why I'm Caleb, Caleb Covington. I'm a fellow ghost." Caleb told her with a soft grin however there was something about him that made the blonde uneasy.

Leila went to introduce herself in return when Caleb became urgent, "Come along we must go." He began to tug on her arm, giving her no choice.

"What? Go where? We need to help him!" She turned back to the skater boy who had a new crack in his helmet that had blood spilling out of it. He wasn't going to make it.

"He'll join us soon." He brushed her off, "Now come along we have things to do."

Leila straightened, turning away from the skater for now as she narrowed her eyes at the man. "I'm not going anywhere with you." She told him sternly.

"Don't you want to sing? Play your piano? Dance?" Leila couldn't help but nod, feeling memorized by the man's words, she couldn't do those things she already knew that. "You can do all of that again at my club. The music never has to stop, we go all over the world, you can sing, dance, and play music for an eternity."

Leila stayed quiet, too shocked and uneasy to say anything, even if she could, she didn't know what she would say.

The man didn't seem to like this, a cold gleam was in his eyes as his grip tightened, "This is a one-time offer missy, take it or never play music again."

And who was Leila to refuse that offer? She simply couldn't. If she did, she would regret it, that she knew. "Alright, I'll come with you."

The man grinned wickedly at her, "That's the spirit! Come on, there's lots to do on the other side of Hollywood!" And so, Leila followed him without thinking.

♪ 𝟷,𝟸𝟿𝟶 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	22. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚢𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟻**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

Leila released a big breath as she sat down at one of the tables in the ghost club which was back in Hollywood as it was when she first came here, she had just finished her routine, tonight she was dancing, yesterday she sang. She loved it, that much was clear by the big grin on her face.

"Hey, Leila!" One of the other performers called, it was a female in her early twenties, one of the dancers, what was her name? Oh right! Allison, or Ali for short.

Leila grinned as Ali sat down next to her, "Hi Ali. You were great out there tonight!" She told her brightly.

Alison scoffed, "Oh please Girl we both know you're way better than me." Alison replied with a smirk, the blond girl was always underestimating herself and all the dancers that were friendly enough were constantly telling her how amazing she was to help the kind girls confidence.

"You think so?" Leila asked with a grin that only grew.

Alison went to reply when Leila's eyes caught someone she hadn't seen in a long time sitting at one of the tables. "What's wrong sweets?" Alison asked in concern.

Leila glanced back at the woman for a moment, "I have to go." She told her before rushing off, ignoring Alison's calls as she rushed over to the table.

"Jasper!" She called as she got close, the man looked up, his eyes widening however a smile came to his face despite his shock.

"Leila! You're here too?" He asked as he stood up, opening his arms knowingly.

Leila nodded rapidly before flinging herself into his waiting arms. "I've missed you so much! But you're here!" Leila pulled away from the hug, her brows furrowing in sudden confusion, "How are you here?"

Jasper sighed stepping back. "I died Leila." He answered.

Leila was shocked although she truly should have known. If he wasn't dead, he wouldn't have been allowed into the club however she still had questions. "W-when? How?"

"A year or so after you... died. Caleb found me." He explained, his hand going to the back of his neck as he scratched it lightly, "I was uh looking for you actually." He paused looking down, "I didn't find you obviously."

Leila nodded although still somewhat lost and she still had so many questions. "You've been here that long?" Leila asked.

Jasper nodded. "Yeah, I've been here. Dancing. This is my night off though." He told her, nervous to talk to her after so long. "You were great up there by the way." It was true. He missed seeing her dance, he hadn't seen her dance since Luke, Reggie and Alex passed. Nobody had well until she came here. "When did you come back?"

"Last year." Leila answered briefly, not wanting to share how she had returned (although she didn't even know that) nor how she spent a year looking for them without even thinking of him.

"Wow." Jasper said in shock. He didn't think she had been back that long. Had she been here?

Jasper swore Leila could read his mind when she answered that very question. "Yeah, I came here a month or two ago after Caleb found me." Leila told him.

Jasper nodded, cursing himself for not seeing her earlier. Even if it was only a month or two it was still a month or two he could have spent with his best friend. "I'm so sorry I didn't even notice you." He apologized immediately, feeling bad for not seeing her in the past month.

Leila didn't seem to mind as she waved him off with a grin, "It's fine! I just had to find you." Leila responded with a shrug. Suddenly she began to shuffle nervously which concerned Jasper who immediately noticed, all too used to keeping a close eye on her. "How was Rose? Afterward?"

Ah. Rose. He was kinda wondering when she would bring her up. "She was good, sad obviously but you know her. She stayed strong as always," Leila grinned at this which calmed Jasper's nerves somewhat, he didn't want to upset her. "She became friends with Bobby after the funeral."

Leila frowned at the thought of Bobby. She couldn't see sweet, kind, beautiful Rose being friends with him. Of course Rose always had seen the best in everyone including her but still, she couldn't believe it. "Bobby? Really?" She asked.

Jasper nodded. "Yeah, I was surprised too." He told her, he didn't know much about what had happened between Leila and Bobby, only what little Leila told him what wasn't much, simply that something had happened and they didn't get along, in her exact words they had a mutual hatred. He always knew something more had happened however whatever it was she never told him. Never wanted to.

Leila took a deep shaky breath. "Yeah, it's uh surprising." She muttered her gaze falling to her black high heels.

Jasper frowned but didn't say anything. She wouldn't tell him anyway, he knew that as well as she did. Instead, he changed the subject.

"Have you tried the cherry pie yet?" When Leila shook her head in confusion and reply, he continued, "It's to die for!" He joked with a chuckle before he grabbed onto her wrist making her wince without him even noticing, "Come on you have to try it!" He told her with a bright grin as Leila relaxed in his hold, a smile of her own coming to her face as she nodded.

It was at that moment Leila realized how much she had missed him. She missed everything about him from his bright smile to the way he knew when she needed to be distracted, how to distract her when need be, and when she just needed to talk. She had missed her best friend.

"Sure Jas." Jasper brightened at the name. Nobody had called him that since she passed after all she was the only one who ever called him that. He had missed it.

It was clear to see the best friends had missed each other as Jasper pulled her off to get some cherry pie, grins on both their faces as they relished in the comforts of each other. It was like they had never been separated as they easily fell into a motion, easily relaxed and happy around each other.

Off to the side, Caleb watched the two with a cold smirk. His plan was coming together just as he wanted it to. Now all he needed to do was find that skater boy before Leila began to get suspicious of him. She was far too powerful to lose.

He would do whatever it took to keep her in his club, within his grasp, under his control.

♪ 𝟷,𝟷𝟹𝟺 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	23. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚝𝚠𝚘

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

Leila stood outside the studio as the familiar sound of rock music blasted from inside the studio. She exhaled deeply as she relaxed, she knew without looking that it was them however when she stood on her tiptoes to find that her boys were indeed playing their music just as they had before, well she was at home.

Leila grinned as she stood outside, listening eagerly, not noticing the girl walk up to the studio. The girl didn't seem to notice her at first but when she did her brows furrowed.

"Who are you?" The girl asked in confusion.

Leila grinned sadly, "Me? I'm no one." She responded before turning around and walking away.

"Wait!" The girl called attempting to grab onto her, however, her hand went right through Leila causing her eyes to widen however Leila just walked away, unaffected by it. She just wished she could stay and hear her boys some more. That's all she wanted to do, merely listen to them. Maybe then her heart and her mind would believe they were really there.

  
  


Groaning Julie turned back to the studio as the girl disappeared from sight, the sound of the rock music filled the silence left by the girl as it continued to play from inside the studio, her studio.

Julie huffed as she blew a strand of hair out of her face, she had bigger things to worry about than the strange girl, like the crazy ghost boys who are playing music that the whole neighborhood can hear!

Julie opened the studio doors and walked in, stomping her feet as her monster slippers hit the floor of the studio. "Guys! Guys, stop!" She shouted. "Enough! Stop! Cut it out!" She made a motion with her hand and finally the boys slowly stopped playing.

"The whole neighborhood could hear you. I thought I told you to leave." Julie told them with her arms crossed over her stomach.

Alex, Luke, and Reggie stared at the girl in shock and awe. "Wait. P-people can hear us play?" Luke questioned

"Yes! And so did my dad and my brother!" Julie continued.

"W-w-wait. Wait. So only you can see us, but everyone can hear us?" Alex asked. "I mean what kind of ghosts are we?" He asked his friends who gathered around his drums.

"Who cares, man? People can hear us play!" Luke said with a grin.

"We might be dead, but our music isn't." Reggie added fist-bumping Alex with a grin.

Suddenly, the doors of the studio opened to reveal Julie's father. Julie turned to him in panic, "Dad!"

"Hey." Her dad greeted. "Just making sure you're okay." He told her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had to turn off the CD player." Julie lied pointing to the CD player she had used when the boys first appeared.

Her dad looked over, noticing the boys' instruments. "Wait. Is this the junk that was in the loft?" He asked.

"Junk?" Luke repeated as Julie's dad walked around to Alex's drums where he banged them lightly.

"Some of this stuffs in pretty good shape." He observed before he kicked a part of the drum. "Hey, maybe we can make a couple bucks."

"What? Yo, stop touching my drums." Alex told Julie's father before remembering he couldn't see nor hear him. He looked at Julie for help. "Tell him to stop touching my drums."

"I liked that song you had on." Ray told Julie as he walked away from Alex's drums to Alex's relief.

"Sweet! We're Sunset Curve." Luke told the man as if he could hear him.

"Tell your friends." Reggie said with a grin.

"It's just an old cd I found." Julie told her dad.

Luke looked to Julie in offense, Alex looking with him as Reggie stared at Ray. "Well, still it's nice that you're listening to music again." He told her making Luke look back at the man. "Out here you can play whatever you want, whenever you want." Ray told his daughter extending his arms causing his hands to go straight through Luke and Reggie whose eyes widened.

Julie looked at the scene in shock, her mind going to the girl, how her hand had gone straight through her. Was she a ghost too?

"Oh!" Reggie said as he looked at his stomach which Ray's hand had just gone through. "That's nice!" Reggie continued, wishing his parents were that good.

"Stay out of this." Julie told Reggie.

Seeing as Ray couldn't see Reggie or any of the Sunset Curve members, he thought his daughter was talking to him. "I-I'm sorry, honey. I didn't..."

Julie rushed to correct herself, "Oh no, no, no, no. Not you. I mean... uh... er..." Julie chuckled nervously, "You know, give me a minute." She said as she walked her dad outside.

Ray stopped his daughter before she could push him fully outside. "Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey." He repeated, "We're gonna figure out this music program thing."

"Thanks, dad." Julie said before her dad finally left the studio, unknowingly leaving her daughter alone with three boys.

"He likes our song." Luke said proudly as Reggie stood next to him.

"Oh yeah. He doesn't count. He's a dad." Alex told them.

Julie rolled her eyes. "Why can't you guys just be normal ghosts?" Julie questioned. "Hang out at an old mansion. I hear Pasadena's nice." She told them before opening the studio doors to leave with an annoyed "Ugh!" The studio doors slammed closed, leaving the three boys alone.

♪ 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎... ♪

Leila wandered the beach lost at what to do or where to go. It had been years since she had been to the beach let alone this one. The one she had once walked on with her boys, playing music for the crowds. However, she had also slept here when she had nowhere.

No matter what Leila thought of, there was one thing that didn't change. This place brought back memories, both good and bad.

As she walked along the sand, the waves crashing down on the shore as they slowly drew closer to her, she thought back to the music or more specifically the people playing her music.

It was the same thing she always went back to. They were what her mind always went back to, the thing, the people, she could never really go back to. Until now.

Now it was a matter of bravery. If she was brave enough to start a new story with them, all it would take is a simple 'hello', and yet it seemed so difficult.

Leila sighed as she walked along the beach silently. She had a lot to think about, a lot to fear, a lot to worry about, just a lot. And somehow it always returned back to them.

♪ 𝟷,𝟷𝟹𝟻 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪

Hey weirdos! Sorry it took longer to update, I've been busy with school and just life in general. Hopefully it won't take too long for the next chapter which I'm super excited to write as it may or may not be the chapter they finally reunite! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you did be sure to...

Vote,

Comment,

And...

Be a weirdo! Buh bye! ❤️❤️


	24. 💀𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 👻

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

The first time Leila got invited to a party, she was sixteen years old. It was 1994, she was walking along the school hallway when one of the popular girls, Chloe Hathaway, came up to her with a bright fake smile on her face and bright pink fliers in hand.

"Hey, Leana!" Chloe greeted.

Leila narrowed her eyes as she gripped the backpack in her hand tighter, "It's Leila." She corrected bluntly.

"Whatever." Chloe said brushing it off, "You're Luke and Reggie's friend, right?"

Leila sighed. "Yep, that's me. Reggie and Luke's friend." She said.

"Great well you're invited to my Halloween party, it's gonna be great! Everyone who's anyone is coming!" Chloe told her happily as she shoved a bright pink flier into her hand. "It's this Saturday, be sure to bring your friends." She added with a smirk before rushing off to her boyfriend, Jeremy.

Leila sighed, crumbling the flier up and shoving it into her backpack to forget about it as soon as possible. She did not want to deal with people inviting her to a party because her friends are hot. Leila rolled her eyes as she continued walking to her next class, easily moving on from the invitation she was more than happy to forget all about.

Later on, Leila arrived at the boys' studio to watch their practice, she threw her backpack beside the couch and sat down on the couch Luke had bought with what little money he had saved up, it was used and didn't smell all that good but it fits perfectly in their studio.

Reggie stopped playing the bass as the others stopped playing their instruments as well, Reggie threw Leila a smile that sent butterflies to her stomach as he spoke, "Hey Leila!"

"How was school?" Alex asked curiously, the boys had skipped school yet again to focus on their music after Luke had a great idea for a new song that he had to write down on their way to school.

"The usual. I failed a test in History." Leila said as she pulled her paper out from her backpack, it was her history test that had a big D on it in bright red marker.

"Oof." Alex replied wincing in sympathy.

Luke scoffed, "It's history, who cares? It's the past, literally. Focus on the now." He told her with a grin.

Leila rolled her eyes. "Some people want to go to college one day Luke." She replied, "Honestly I'm surprised you guys haven't dropped out yet."

Bobby grinned. "Don't encourage them." He joked, somewhat seriously as he set down his guitar, Leila grinned back at him before looking back at her backpack, she rummaged through it to find today's homework before groaning and picking it up only to continue rummaging through it, not noticing the bright pink flyer that fell out of her backpack and onto the floor.

"What's this?" Luke asked as he walked over to the fallen flier, he picked it up curiously. "Chloe's Halloween Bash?" He read.

"Isn't it supposed to be spooky? Why is it so... bright?" Reggie asked as he walked over to Luke.

Leila grabbed her homework out of her backpack with a small aha before noticing what Luke had found. "Oh, that's just some stupid flier some girl gave me." She told them brushing it off.

"Are you gonna go?" Bobby asked curiously as he grabbed his water bottle.

Leila shook her head. "No. No way." She answered without a second thought.

"Why not? It'd be fun." Luke encouraged handing the flier to Leila who crumbled it up and threw it over to the trashcan they had, it bounced off the rim falling onto the floor soundlessly.

"Yeah, we can even go with you!" Reggie spoke with a grin.

Leila blushed at the thought of going to a party with Reggie. "I don't know guys..." Leila said, thinking back to the girl, the only reason she even got invited was because of them...

"Come on, you gotta let loose once in a while, Lei." Alex told her, he didn't like parties too much, he wasn't the type however if it could get Leila to loosen up, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Leila groaned. "Alright, alright, fine." She said in defeat.

That Saturday, Leila wore a black skirt paired with a plain black tee, a red and black flannel, and some black combat boots. She glared at the mirror in her room before grabbing her small purse and rushing downstairs, straight out the door and to the nearby stop sign where all the boys were waiting including Alex who said she had been taking too long.

"You ready?" Luke asked with a bright grin.

Leila nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be." She replied.

So far the party was terrible. All anyone did was drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes or worse, dance. All Leila could see was red plastic cups, smoke, and bodies grinding against each other. Leila glared at the scene as she took a sip of her beverage of choice, soda.

Alex had stayed by her side for a while however eventually he strayed, going to the dance floor after one of his favorite songs came on, Reggie and Luke had gone off nearly immediately after they arrived, going straight to the dance floor where they were now dancing with any girl they could. They were far more respectable than the other boys who were all hands.

Leila was soon on her second cup of soda and still alone, standing off to the side until someone bumped into her spilling their cup of alcohol all over her. "Watch where you're going, freak." A voice told her when Leila looked at the person she saw Chloe.

Leila's eyes narrowed, her fist clenching by her side as she tried to calm herself. She promised Alex she wouldn't get in anymore fights. She couldn't, if she got suspended too often it may could ruin her chances of getting a scholarship, something that was hard enough as is.

Leila sighed and went outside, tears streaming down her face unaware of the boy in the leather jacket who furrowed his brows in concern as he watched the scene, he quickly walked away from the dance floor ignoring the groan of annoyance that came from the girl he had been dancing with as he made his way outside.

"Leila!" Reggie called as he rushed to her side. "Are you alright?" He asked as he stood over her. She was on the side of the house, sitting against the wall with tears streaming down her face, her shirt smelling of alcohol.

Leila shook her head, sniffling as she looked up at Reggie. "I shouldn't have come." She mumbled as Reggie sat down next to her.

"You didn't want to, did you?" Reggie asked her. He knew she didn't want to however he thought it was because of homework or her dance, now he was thinking she had a much better reason. A reason they would later wish they had known before.

Leila chuckled bitterly. "Of course I didn't. They didn't even want me to come."

"What do you mean?" He asked in confusion.

Leila looked over at him sadly, "They wanted you, not me." She told him, "Nobody ever wants me, Reg. I'm just Reggie and Luke's friend or the freak." She wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her flannel, wincing at the stench of alcohol.

"Well... Who cares about them?" Reggie asked rhetorically. "We want you," Reggie paused hesitantly before speaking, "I want you."

Leila's head snapped up from her wet sleeve to look at Reggie in shock. "What?" She asked.

"I want you." Reggie told her with a soft smile. In any other situation, this sentence would have sounded... inappropriate and mature, however, in this situation it brought a smile that Reggie adored to Leila's face as well as butterflies to both their stomachs, though the butterflies seemed more like hurricanes to the duo.

The two sat outside for a while, enjoying each other's smile. When Luke, Bobby, and Alex found them, Leila wore his leather jacket, her flannel held in Reggie's hand, Reggie had his other arm thrown over her shoulder as Leila curled into his side as Alex pretended not to notice the glare Leila sent his way when they broke the silence between them, announcing their presence as they told them it was time to go. 

Luke didn't pretend to notice the glare Reggie sent as he grinned at his friend, "Come on love birds!" He had called as they walked to their homes when Reggie and Leila got behind.

Nobody noticed the cold glare Bobby had the rest of the walk nor how fake the smile he offered when they arrived at his home was, though they wish they did.

♪ 𝟷,𝟺𝟽𝟽 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	25. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

It was the next day and Leila's mind was still stuck on them like she felt it always would be.

She was sitting on her bench, staring out at the ocean, lost in her mind as she drowned in the sound of waves crashing down and people chatting.

She wasn't even sure what she was thinking of. Their return, Luke, Alex, Reggie, the club, Willie...

She had a lot to think of and her thoughts seemed to be playing ping pong inside her mind, thoughts changing before she could even realize what she was thinking.

Suddenly, his voice broke her out of her daze, like it always used to in the past, stealing her attention with no mercy, no regret, no apology, not that she ever minded.

Leila's head snapped to the source of the familiar noise as she saw Reggie sing with all of his heart, "Woah oh oh oh, this band is back," He sang loudly with a bright grin that Leila wished would never fade.

"Woah this back is back," He repeated with Luke and Alex joining in.

"Woo-hoo, ooh, ooh." They sang the same lyric two more times before continuing.

"Can you?" Reggie sang as he looked won at a couple.

"Yes, we can." Alex and Luke chorused.

"Can you hear me?" Reggie continued.

"Loud and clear!" The band chorused as Reggie leaned back on a table.

"We gotta get," Reggie sang.

"Wanna get," Alex and Luke sang.

"We gotta get ready!" Reggie sang.

"Cause it's been years!" The boys sang together as Reggie hopped from table to table.

"Hey!" Alex sang.

"Woah oh oh oh, this band is back!" The boys sang as people began to dance on the beach, Leila grinned, knowing the boys no doubt loved the reaction to their music however her eyes never strayed from her boys (specifically Reggie) for long.

"Woah oh oh oh," They sang, "This band is back..." They continued as Reggie hopped off the table.

They continued to sing as they walked up to a couple who seemed to be talking although Leila couldn't hear what they were saying, whether they were too far away or she couldn't focus on anything but Reggie, she wasn't sure.

"Woohoo, ooh, ooh!" The boys sang as the couple stopped talking, they then danced away, scat singing as they went.

After a few more minutes of scat singing as they danced, Reggie's eyes caught a familiar figure on the bench. His eyes widened as he froze, the girl who had been grinning at them looked away quickly as her eyes went wide, only confirming what Reggie already knew in his heart.

"Reggie," Luke called. "Dude, what's wrong?"

Reggie tore his eyes away from her to look at his friends as he spoke shakily, "That's Leila."

Alex's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and shock as he stared at his friend who seemed convinced that his sister was nearby. "What?"

"Leila is sitting right there." Reggie told them in a panic as he pointed to the bench where the girl surprisingly still was.

Alex's eyes widened, the hair matched perfectly as did the height however the girl was looking away and Alex couldn't believe it, didn't want to believe it because if that really is his sister then that would mean she died.

Or got a really good hairstylist.

"It can't be." Alex denied.

"Only one way to find out," Luke spoke clapping Alex on the back before he focused on the blonde girl nearby, "Leila!" He called loudly, not truly expecting any reaction other than their hearts breaking when it wasn't her however when she turned to them on instinct and they found it to truly be Leila, their Leila... they didn't know what to think or do.

Their minds went silent as they stared at the girl.

They thought she had moved on, found love, started a family, but... she hadn't changed. She looked slightly older, at most two years older than them, but she was still Leila and if she could not only hear but see them as well... there was only one reason that could happen to add to the fact she had barely changed in twenty-five years.

Leila's dead.

Just like them.

Leila stood up, making to get away as she momentarily forgot she could poof away. Noticing her actions, they began to panic, rushing after the blonde, "Leila!" They called.

They all chased her, the girl they thought they lost, hoping that if they caught her, they wouldn't lose her again. The only one who didn't chase her, was Reggie, the one who wanted her the most.

Luke was the first and only to notice Reggie's absence, Alex too focused on his sister to notice, Luke paused in his tracks turning back to his frozen friend, "Reggie, come on dude!" He called successfully snapping Reggie out of his daze, Luke had expected Reggie to run after them so when he suddenly appeared in front of Leila, he was in shock.

How was Reggie the only one to think of their newfound ghost powers?

More so, how didn't he think of that?

Reggie was just as shocked, if not more, by his sudden poof. He hadn't really intended to appear beside Leila however he had desperately wanted to, knowing they wouldn't be able to catch up on foot.

He was terrified of losing her and all he wished for at that moment as he watched her grow farther and farther away from him was to be by her side.

Perhaps this is why Reggie poofed without thinking, Reggie wasn't sure and he didn't particularly care after he realized it had helped him.

"Leila." He breathed out.

Leila froze, shuffling nervously as she stared at Reggie, the boy she hadn't seen in years, twenty-five years to be exact. "Hi, Reg." His nickname rolled off her tongue as if she said it every day as she offered a weak smile.

"H-how are you here?" He asked in confusion.

Leila glanced at Alex and Luke who had just caught up to them before she spoke. "I died. I'm a ghost just like you guys."

"When?" Alex asked unable to stop himself as he stared at his sister, unable to imagine her dying.

Leila took a deep breath as she forced the tears back. "A year or so after you guys." She answered softly.

"How?" Leila tensed immediately at Luke's question.

Alex's eyes widened as he slapped Luke on the shoulder. "Luke! You don't just ask someone that, especially not Leila!" He hissed to him before looking at his sister, "I'm sorry Lei, he's an idiot you don't have to tell us."

Leila relaxed at his brother's words as he offered her a soft smile and she nodded. "If you guys don't mind, I- I don't feel like talking about it right now." Leila winced at the memory of her death.

The band nodded without thinking as they quickly realized their friend hadn't had a pleasant death, none of them had, however, it seemed like hers was more painful. Perhaps it was because they had each other and she was alone. They felt their heartaches as they watched her take a deep, steadying breath, forcing back the tears.

"I'll tell you guys about it one day, just... not today." She promised them before changing the subject, "So how have your ghostly adventures been so far?" She asked curiously with a bright grin that only made the boys frown, knowing immediately that it was forced.

They brushed the forced smile off for now as Reggie began to ramble about their adventures with Luke and Alex chiming in occasionally and slowly they saw Leila's smile become real.

Just as Reggie began to ask about her ghostly adventures, Alex piped up. "We should really get going."

Leila furrowed her brows in confusion, wondering where they had to go. "Where?" She asked curiously, ignoring the realization that at some point during Reggie's ramble, she had drifted closer to him, now standing by his side which Reggie seemed to notice to as he looked at her with a grin.

"Julie's house." Luke told her with a grin.

Ah yes, Julie, the lifer she had met before as well as the one they had told her about, or Reggie told her about. "Do you want to come with us?" Reggie asked hesitantly, a nervous grin on his face.

Leila was reluctant to agree, not wanting to intrude or bring trouble to her boys and their little lifer but how could she say no to Reggie's face? She never could before. "Sure, Reg."

Before Leila knew it, she was in Julie's home, in her bedroom to be specific, Leila was currently sitting on the bean bag at the end of the teen's bed as she watched her friends look around the room, practicing their newfound ghost abilities and trying to learn new things, like picking things up.

Luke stood on a bench to stare longingly at a chest on one of Julie's shelves while Alex attempted to pick up a picture on Julie's dresser, not noticing the way Leila stifled laughter, knowing more than any of them on how to be a ghost, Reggie was laying on Julie's bed, spreading out as he enjoyed the comfort of it.

Suddenly, Julie's door opened to reveal the owner of the room, Julie, who was, to say the least, not happy with what she found.

"What are you guys doing in my room? And why did you bring a random ghost here?" Julie questioned, gesturing to Leila who offered a nervous grin.

"Uhh..." Reggie started looking at Alex for help.

"Umm..." Alex said in a high-pitched voice looking just as helpless as Reggie.

Luke looked like a deer caught in headlights as he said the first excuse he thought of, "We were looking for the kitchen?" It sounded more like a question which only made Leila laugh more as she laughed to herself quietly, Reggie pointed to Luke, silently going along with his words.

"This..." Julie started as she gestured around the room to all the boys and Leila who stopped laughing immediately, feeling as if she was in the principal's office, "This can't happen. It's creepy."

Leila had to agree there, she hadn't liked the thought of invading Julie's space and she knew if she found three random boys and one random girl in her room, she would find it creepy too.

"Get off my bed, please." Julie said to Reggie who immediately jumped off her bed, going over to Leila who made room for him immediately.

"Hey, Julie." Luke called, glancing at the box he had been staring at as he pointed to it, "What's in the box?"

Julie glanced at the box Luke was talking about before answering. "That's off-limits."

"Oh," Luke started chuckling, "Ok, girl stuff." He said in a sing-song tone.

Leila groaned, facepalming as she looked down at her lap in disappointment, shaking her head at her best friend's ways.

"Oh, like butterflies and glitter?" Reggie asked curiously.

Leila sighed in defeat. "Oh come on." Alex said, disappointed in his friends.

"I'm sorry about them." Leila spoke as she looked up at the teen girl.

Julie seemed to ignore Leila's apology as she looked at Luke. "It's none of your business." She told him before looking at Reggie, "And yes, there might be some glitter."

Reggie smirked, proud of himself for guessing correctly as Alex rolled his eyes, turning back to the picture frame as he continued to try and pick it up, however unlike the last several attempts, he succeeded. "Hey!" He said in amazement as he carried the picture as if it would break any second or rather disappear, Alex chuckled, "I actually picked something up!" He stated proudly.

As if on cue, the picture frame fell causing Leila to sigh, shaking her head as she made a mental note to help them pick things up later, however before she could offer help to her friends, she tensed, noticing the older woman beside a younger Julie in the photo.

"I dropped it." Alex announced.

"Is that your mom?" Luke said leaning over to take a closer look at the picture as Reggie did the same, with the boys distracted by the photo, nobody noticed Leila's strange reaction upon seeing the woman.

"Yes, and it's my favorite picture of us." Julie told them before she picked the picture up, tearing the boy's attention away from the photo as they looked to her. "So if you break it, I'll break you." Julie told them -- no, promised them.

Leila tensed even more, nervous despite not having the girl's cold look directed at her. She felt bad for the boys, who didn't seem to take the girl seriously however Leila knew from experience not to mess with Rose, or in this case, Rose's daughter.

♪ 𝟸,𝟷𝟻𝟻 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	26. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

"If you break it, I'll break you." Julie told the boys sternly, Leila tensed hiding a grin as she saw just how similar the young girl was to Rose. It hurt if Leila was honest, she hadn't imagined the girl moving on, having a family, and even if it was something she wished for the girl, to see it was a different story.

However, Leila pushed this feeling down as she watched Alex lean off the bed as he spoke, "Okay, well, sorry because we're kinda unbreakable at this point." He told Julie making Leila wince, knowing this was not true.

No ghost was unbreakable when Caleb's around. Leila knew that better than most.

All she could hope was that she would be able to protect them from Caleb before they found out just how breakable they are as ghosts the hard way, the way Leila found out.

"I don't get it." Julie spoke snapping Leila out of it, "You guys can mess up my bed, pick up your instruments, but you can't pick up other stuff?" She asked.

Leila stayed quiet knowing how confusing it was as well as how hard it was to do such a regular thing like pick up a hairbrush.

She couldn't brush her hair for weeks after she became a ghost.

"I know, right? It's hard but for some reason, our instruments, easy." Luke replied to Julie.

Leila wished she could explain to them, all the things she didn't know that she wished she had but she simply couldn't find the words, and to make things worse, she felt like an outsider, like she had no reason being there. None of them even so much as looked at her.

"Yeah, like super easy." Reggie agreed with Luke. "Oh and check out what I learned today." Reggie spoke as he stood up, walking in front of Leila as he noticed how tense the girl had become after Julie came in as well as wanting Julie to have a clear view of his newfound trick.

Suddenly, the familiar red bass of Reggie's that immediately brought back memories appeared in his arms and caused Leila to wince, she knew something would go bad as soon as she watched the bass appear.

To prove Leila's point as her eyes widened Reggie fell back into his lap with a grunt and groan. "Ahh!" Reggie complained sitting up as he looked at Leila, checking her over silently to make sure he hadn't injured her in his fall. "Sorry Lei." He apologized, "Haven't mastered that yet."

Leila offered a comforting grin, ignoring Luke's chuckles, "It's fine, Reg. I'm sure you'll get it soon." Reggie grinned at her words before looking back at Julie as she spoke.

"Yeah, that looked super easy." Leila grinned, all things considered, Leila liked this girl already.

Reggie looked at his guitar in betrayal as he stood up, giving Leila one last apologetic smile as Luke spoke behind them. "Yeah but it's like I always thought, our instruments are attached to our souls." He was speaking to Julie however when a thought came to him he looked to Leila, about to ask her if her instrument came to her or something at least when the group heard footsteps approaching Julie's room, stopping Luke from asking Leila the question that stuck in his mind afterward, dying to come out.

"Hey!" A male voice Leila could only assume was Julie's dad's spoke causing Reggie to nearly fall over, his eyes wide as he went to his friends' side, meanwhile Alex and Luke's hands flew into each other on instinct as they watched Julie's father come in, not knowing whether or not the man would see them.

Leila, knowing for certain the older man wouldn't be able to see her, didn't worry about this, staying put as she watched Julie's dad enter the room.

"Everything okay?" Julie's dad asked as Julie spun around to look at him.

Leila studied Julie's dad for a moment, racking her brain as she tried to figure out if she had ever met the man before however after a moment or two of thinking she shook her head to herself.

She had never seen this man before.

Which led her to wonder when, where, and how Rose had met him. She wanted to know everything as Rose's ex as well as her old friend.

"Yeah," Julie spoke awkwardly, "I'm fine."

Behind her, Alex and Luke realized they had been holding hands as they quickly released each other's hands as they looked at each other with wide eyes, Reggie stared at Julie's dad in awe as Leila chuckled at their reactions, still sitting on Julie's bean bag, casual as ever.

"Okay." Julie's dad replied, "I thought I heard you talking to someone."

Leila let out a chuckle, a grin on her face as she crossed her legs. "This outta be good." She spoke to herself causing the boys to give her strange looks, wondering why she wasn't nearly as freaked about the man as they were.

"Nope." Julie lied, looking around her room for a plausible excuse, her eyes landed on her laptop as Leila followed her line of sight, wondering what the girl would say next. "Must've been my laptop... that I just closed."

Julie's dad chuckled lightly as Leila wondered if the man seriously believed her words, she wouldn't have. "Okay." Julie's dad said as he stood straight, no longer leaning on the door frame as he began to leave the room, "If you need anything..."

"Yeah, thanks." Julie replied just as awkward as her dad as he moved to close the door.

Once the door shut, Alex exhaled sharply behind Leila as Julie slowly turned back to the group.

"Your dad seems like the kind of guy who likes to barbecue." Reggie told Julie causing Leila's brows to raise, what? She wondered before brushing it off as just Reggie. "I bet he has a great ribs recipe." He continued pointing at Julie.

"I don't know, but if you guys or this girl wanna talk to me, we have to do it in the studio. He's worried about me enough as it is." Julie said gesturing to the door, Leila stayed quiet, knowing how it felt to have everyone around her worried about her.

There was a time where her parents had attempted to send her to therapy after they found out about her diagnosis when, for a very short period of time, they acted as they cared. They acted like she 'needed the help' because they were 'worried about the effects of her diagnosis.' Leila called it bullshit and of course, never went nor so much as acted as she did.

Quite frankly, after her diagnosis, she didn't care what others thought of her and she certainly didn't care about her parents' thoughts of her, they made it clear she wasn't their daughter anymore and she just wanted to live while she could.

"He seems chill. You should just tell him about us." Luke suggested causing Leila to wince, wanting to slap him upside the head for the mere suggestion.

"Luke." She scolded softly before Julie spoke, saying her words better than she could.

"You're kidding, right?" Luke's grin began to fall upon hearing her tone, Julie turned away as she sighed, "This past year, everyone's been watching me."

Leila could relate to the girl, after her diagnosis everyone looked at her, watched her, just waiting for her to crack, breakdown like everyone expected.

She hated that feeling.

"Being super nice, as if they're waiting for me to snap." Julie continued, "If I tell my dad I met a ghost band, I'll be back to talking to Dr. Turner three days a week."

Luke clicked his tongue, clearly disagreeing with his previous words. "Yeah, you probably shouldn't tell him." He replied before going over to the shelf causing Leila to groan, knowing exactly what he was doing before he did it. "Julie..." He called.

"Oh my gosh! I thought I told you to leave that alone!" Julie exclaimed, upset with Luke's actions as her dream box was one thing that was just hers. It was like a diary to her.

"I know. You should have said nothing 'cause now I can't stop thinking about it, so..." Luke spoke before gesturing to the box, looking towards it as he spoke her name, "What's in the box, Julie?"

Finally, Julie snapped, giving in. "It's just my dream box, okay?" Luke looked towards her curiously. "Whenever I get a thought or something, I write it down and get it out of my mind." She explained briefly although Leila had a feeling this wasn't entirely what the box held.

"Like lyrics?" Luke asked curiously, even more curious than he had been before.

"They would be if I still write music like I used to with my mom." Julie answered causing Leila's mind to go to her own songbook which only had a few songs after the death of her friends, mostly filled with little things, words that could be lyrics, or lyrics that could be songs if she had ever gained the motivation to continue them, to just write like she used to. Even after death, when she was able to sing again, she found it hard to write music.

Leila briefly wondered what it would have been like to see Rose playing with her daughter as she pushed off her sadder thoughts.

"Now it's just full of stuff that doesn't make me sad." Julie finished as the boys looked at her in sympathy, none of them noticing the understanding look Leila had sent to Julie unlike their looks of sympathy.

Alex stood up as he began to speak, "But, I mean, you do play. We heard from you this morning."

"In the garage?" Julie questioned.

Luke jumped off the chair to hit Alex's shoulder as Leila shook her head, going to stand beside Reggie. "So you were there too?" Julie then glanced at Leila, "Were you there too?"

Leila shook her head, raising her hands in defeat, denying being there immediately. She wasn't about to get wrapped up in their issues and she knew better than anyone not to cross Rose's daughter. Of course, she knew more about not crossing Rose but from what she saw they were similar enough for her to get the warning.

"Uh... I don't..." Alex scrambled for words as he realized his mistake.

"Uhh.. he was, like... we were... somewhere." Reggie spoke in a panic, Leila's hand intertwined with his on instinct, wanting to comfort her friend who looked at her with wide eyes as Luke laid across Julie's bed.

"So, where is your kitchen, by the way?" He asked making Leila roll her eyes, her grip on Reggie's hand tightening ever so slightly.

"Okay," Julie started as she leaned her hands onto her knees to look at the boy closer, "We need to set some boundaries."

Luke didn't seem bothered by her words as Leila smirked, this will be good.

"For starters," Julie continued as she stood straighter, pointing to the door as she spoke in a much louder voice, "Stay out of my room!"

"Mhm." Reggie hummed.

"Crystal clear." Alex agreed.

"Let's go." Leila said with a laugh, releasing his hand as she let him go first.

"We're leaving. Yes, ma'am! We are out of here!" Reggie spoke as the band left in a line, Reggie strumming his guitar strings as he went, disappearing out of the door.

Alex paused in the hallway, remembering something as he turned back, telling the others to go ahead without him.

Leila furrowed her brows, urging Reggie and Luke forward as she stayed behind with Alex. "What did you remember?" Leila asked curiously.

"I just want to ask Julie something important." Alex told her sister with a soft grin before he went back to Julie's door, poking his head straight through as Leila stayed outside, leaning against the nearby wall.

"Hey!" Alex called, gaining the other girl's attention. "Um, sorry. I didn't mean to bother you." He apologized quickly before he spoke again, "Did you get back into your music program?"

Julie looked down as she spoke, "No. No, I didn't."

Leila looked down, biting her lip as she knew just how it felt. Wanting to finally get back to music but being denied... it was terrible.

"I'm sorry. That really sucks." Alex replied to Julie, more than you know, Leila thought silently.

"Thanks." Julie responded. Alex sighed, looking around awkwardly. "Is that it?" She asked.

"Yeah. Yeah." Alex answered, "This is getting weird." Julie waved goodbye to the blonde who got the hint, "Okay." He said just before he pulled back, leaving the girl alone in her room as he looked to Leila, frowning upon seeing the expression on her face. He immediately worried for his sister, wondering if she was okay.

Before Alex could speak, before he could ask her if she was alright or at the very least comfort her, she spoke, looking up at him nervously. "Can you go to the studio or something?" She asked, "I need to speak to Julie and I- it's something I need to do alone."

♪ 𝟸,𝟸𝟶𝟻 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	27. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

"It's something I need to do alone." Leila told her brother who's frown deepened as he wondered what she needed to talk to Julie about.

Alex didn't say anything about his questions, merely nodding in reply. "Yeah, I'll just be out in the studio." He told her before smiling at her and poofing away leaving his sister alone in the hallway.

Leila took a deep breath as she shook her hands gently by her side, gaining the courage to speak with the lifer inside the room. Leila hesitantly approached the door, knocking on it reluctantly.

"Who is it?" Julie called, expecting it to be either her dad or her brother.

What Julie was not expecting was for the young ghost girl to walk into the room, straight through the door she had just knocked on. "You can touch things?" Julie asked in shock.

Leila nodded biting her lip, "Yeah I've been a ghost longer, I know more than the boys." She explained softly. "But that's not why I'm here."

Julie nodded. "Right," she drawled out, "And why exactly are you here?" Julie questioned, "I mean I don't even know your name."

Leila's eyes widened as she realized Julie didn't know her name. "Sorry bout that. I'm Leila, Alex's sister." She told her, offering her hand but slowly pulling it back as Julie paid no mind to it, "Okay... anyway, I just came to say I understand."

Julie furrowed her brows in confusion. "What?" She questioned.

"I understand how you feel, with the whole music thing and the people thinking you're fragile." She explained, "I get it." She shrugged.

"You do?" Julie asked in disbelief.

Leila sighed. "Yeah after their deaths, I couldn't sing. I always sang with them, they were my music. When I was finally able to sing without them, I found out I physically couldn't sing anymore." She explained causing Julie to look at the girl in a new light, her entire demeanor changing. "After something happened, everyone looked at me like I would break if they said a word about... it." Julie assumed she was talking about the band's death as she nodded along, she was wrong and if Leila had it her way, she would never know it.

"What I'm trying to say is, if you want to talk to someone, I'm here." Leila told the girl.

Julie nodded, offering a small smile. "Thanks, Leila, I mean it."

Leila nodded. "No problem." She told her, wondering if she should tell her what else she wanted to tell the girl. She decided against it as she spoke, "I should probably go now, the boys are waiting."

Julie nodded, speaking before the girl could walk out, or rather poof, out of the room, "See you later Leila." Julie studied the girl who offered a smile before disappearing from view.

Julie wasn't sure how or why but that girl seemed... familiar. Like she had seen her before.

Julie brushed it off as she sighed, turning back to the picture of her mother as she put it back where it belongs.

After her talk with Julie, Leila headed out to the studio where the boys were waiting oh so patiently for her.

She could tell they were patient because they stumbled back when she came in through the doors, acting 'casual' as she raised a brow at them. "Hey." She greeted as she went over to the couch, sitting down on it with a soft sight, she had missed this place, she realized as she sunk into the familiar couch.

"Hey, Leila!" Reggie greeted first, quickly sitting beside her on the couch before either of his friends could.

Alex sent Reggie a glare as he sat beside Reggie on the couch. "Hi." He greeted his sister with a grin.

Luke chuckled at his friends as he set his songbook down. "Hey, Leila." He spoke as he leaned on the couch. "So when did you... appear?" He asked curiously.

Leila furrowed her brows in confusion. "Appear?" She questioned.

Luke nodded. "Yeah, you know, when you became a ghost?" He continued.

Leila's eyes widened in realization. "Oh!" She replied, "I 'appeared' about..." Leila paused to think, making sure she got the correct year before she finished her answer, "six years ago I think."

"Six years ago?" Reggie questioned in shock.

When Leila nodded, Alex let out an audible breath of shock. "Wow. I don't think I could do that." He said without thinking.

"So what?" Leila asked in confusion.

Alex shrugged, staying quiet as he didn't want to upset his sister. Luke, knowing what he was going to say and being an idiot, spoke for him. "Be a ghost alone."

"Yeah I mean we had each other but you were just..." Reggie paused quickly realizing he shouldn't have said anything. "Alone."

Leila nodded with a sad smile. "It was hard but I got through it." She told them her words were supposed to be comforting however judging by their faces, it was anything but.

"I swear Leila you will never be alone again." Alex promised her softly, looking at her over Reggie who awkwardly got off the couch allowing the siblings to give each other a much-needed hug.

Smiling softly, Leila looked to Luke and Reggie expectantly, "Well come on." She called urging them over, they came immediately, not having to be told twice as they quickly joined the hug before Leila could change her mind (as if she ever would), hugging her tightly despite it being somewhat awkward as Luke and Reggie needed to bend down to come to the level the siblings were at on the couch however none of them minded.

All that mattered was that they were together.

♪ 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛... ♪

Luke had just left to go check out Julie's kitchen and Leila had followed after him however she didn't go inside the Molina house, she stayed outside the studio, sitting against the wall as she stared up at the sky with a soft smile, happy to be back with her boys.

She was lost in thought when Reggie came out, silent as a mouse which was so unlike him that Leila didn't even know he was there until he called out to her.

Reggie didn't want to interrupt and for a minute or two, he didn't. Instead, he watched her, enjoying the peaceful look on her face that he hadn't seen in years. Even before they died, he hadn't seen her like this in a while.

As much as Reggie wanted to take in the moment, he decided to speak up, wanting to talk to the girl. "Hey." He called softly. Leila's head snapped in his direction and her smile widened upon seeing him.

She was always happy to see Reggie, especially after twenty-five years without seeing his face.

"Hey, Reg." Leila greeted softly.

"Hey," Reggie said as he sat beside her, cursing himself when he realized he had already said that. "Sorry I didn't want to interrupt but... I wanted to talk to you."

Leila straightened, wondering what he wanted to talk to her about as he seemed rather serious not to mention nervous. "Are you alright Reg?" She asked.

Reggie nodded. "I'm fine Lei it's just..." He paused as he chuckled, looking down at the ground as he fumbled with the sleeve of his leather jacket.

"What Reggie?" She asked as she shuffled closer to him.

"How are you okay?" Reggie questioned abruptly as he lifted his head to look at her.

Leila furrowed her brows in confusion. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"I mean..." Reggie paused as he let out a sigh. "God Leila you must have been so..." Reggie trailed off with a shrug as he continued to mess with his sleeve, Leila knew what he was getting at of course. She had always been smart, at times too smart.

"Alone?" Leila asked, continuing after Reggie nodded in reply, "I was. I'm not going to lie to you, of course I was." She told him making him look down, "But it's okay cause I'm not alone anymore." She carried on.

Reggie looked at her in awe. He had always known she was strong but for her to comfort him when she talked about this, her eyes watery with tears she wouldn't let go... she's stronger than any of them know.

"I have you, Reg." She told him softly with a smile that made Reggie's eyes stray from her eyes to her lips before subtly shaking his head and looking back at her eyes. "And I have Luke and Alex and I'm not alone anymore." She continued with a wet smile as she sniffed, attempting to restrain herself from crying.

"Hey." Reggie called softly as he moved even closer to Leila. "I'm not good with feelings and all that," He chuckled, "But you can let it out, you can cry, scream, whatever just... don't hold it in. Not anymore."

Leila stayed silent like Reggie knew she would, he wasn't expecting any real response he just wanted her to know.

With Reggie not expecting any response, you can imagine his surprise when she threw her hands over his shoulders, wrapping her arms around his neck as she held him close. Reggie's eyes widened and for a moment he didn't do anything but then he hugged her back, holding her as close as he could as he closed his eyes, relaxing into her hug.

"I've really missed you Reg." She told him softly, her words muffled by his shirt as she buried her head in the crook of his neck.

Reggie pretended not to notice the tears that fell from her eyes as he held her just a bit closer. "I've missed you too Leila."

♪ 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝... ♪

When Luke came back to the studio, Reggie and Leila were already back inside. As he and Alex pretended not to notice the redness that could only come from crying as well as how close the two sat, Luke told them of Julie's plan to get back into her music program.

Once he finished Leila spoke, "We have to go then."

"What?" Luke asked in confusion.

Leila rolled her eyes. "We have to go watch Julie sing." She told him, ignoring the 'oh' he let out, "She'll need someone there and besides, I haven't seen this girl sing but from what I've heard she's pretty amazing." She continued with a smile that the boys matched.

They always smiled when Leila smiled.

"Alright." Luke nodded. "I can't wait to see her play again." He exclaimed with an excited grin.

Reggie nodded in agreement. "Yeah and this time for a crowd." He commented with a fond smile, he wished he could sing on stage again, for a crowd of people that loved their music.

He would do anything to do that again. It was the best feeling in the world.

One look at his bandmates told him they would too.

Leila watched them with a sad smile. She wished she could see them play again or even play with them. More than anything, she wished they could have a second chance to make their dreams a reality.

But there was only one way they could sing for a crowd again and there was no way Leila was letting that happen. She wouldn't let them fall for Caleb's trap, not as she had.

"Hey, Leila." Alex called, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, Alex?" She asked as she looked over at him.

Alex suddenly grew hesitant, his nerves nearly getting the best of him, but he had to ask. "Do you still sing?"

Luke and Reggie looked at the girl with curiosity wondering the same thing, they each had wide, hopeful grins however they fell upon seeing Leila's expression as she shook her head.

"No. I can't sing anymore." Leila told her brother, hoping none of them would notice her wording however she knew they had when they grew confused.

"Can't?" Luke questioned.

Leila sighed. "Can we talk about this another time?" She pleaded.

Not being able to deny Leila's puppy dog eyes, the boys reluctantly nodded. "Sure Leila." Alex agreed.

"Thanks." Leila offered a small grin that only worried the boys. "We should probably get going, shouldn't we?" She asked with a hopeful smile, hoping they would change the subject with ease.

Luke nodded, growing excited at the thought of seeing Julie play again. "Yeah, she's probably getting ready now but this way we can explore her school before she plays." Luke told them, his friends nodded and before they knew it they were exploring Julie's school before the big show.

What they didn't know was that it wasn't just Julie's life that would change that night, but theirs as well.

♪ 𝟸,𝟷𝟸𝟼 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	28. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

It was finally time to see Julie perform and everyone that knew of her surprise performance were excited, whether it be to see Julie sing or for her to get back into her music program all they knew was that they were thrilled. Well, except Leila.

You may be wondering why, why was Leila not excited, happy, whatever, it was simple, really, however it was also very... complicated. You couldn't just tell everyone you dreaded seeing someone else sing outside of the club because you couldn't sing after all.

Despite Leila's feelings being different from the boys, she didn't let it show. She didn't want to ruin their night when they were so excited to see the talented young girl who had found them sing.

Leila and the boys looked around her school for Julie, poofing in and out of rooms until they heard music coming from the gym, the group looked at each other before grinning and poofing into the gym, luckily when they poofed into the full gym, they didn't have to look to find Julie because she was right next to them with a friend of hers as they watched the performance.

As soon as their shoes hit the ground, Julie noticed them, turning away from her friend and going over to her phantoms as she whispered to them, hoping her friend wouldn't hear as the music played in the background. "What are you guys doing here?" Julie practically hissed to the group although it didn't take Leila long to notice she wasn't looking at the group, she was looking at Luke.

Leila smiled softly as she stood beside Reggie and Alex, Reggie looked around in awe as Alex watched Luke and Julie, "We wanted to see you stick it to the man." Luke told her with a grin before turning to his friends, "Isn't that right boys?" Leila cleared her throat causing Luke to roll his eyes before correcting himself, "Boys and girl." Leila nodded as if to say better.

"Man I miss high school." Reggie stated as he watched the girls perform in the middle of the gym, Leila turned to see what he was looking at and frowned, sighing as she crossed her arms over her stomach.

She did not miss this feeling.

As she watched the girl group perform, she couldn't help but silently admit that they were pretty good, their choreography was surprisingly good and Leila couldn't help but wish she was out there, singing and dancing, she loved it.

It wasn't the kind of dance she had ever done in the past but it looked interesting and she was always open to new dance styles, well she was anyway.

"Made moves on the rise now," The main girl in pink sings, "Run stuff, get a piece of that pie now"

As the song continues, Leila grew more and more amazed however she couldn't ignore the feeling in her heart, longing, and heartbreak. She couldn't do that anymore.

She couldn't dance, she couldn't sing, she couldn't do what she loves.

Don't get her wrong, she didn't and would never doubt or regret her decision to leave Caleb's grip but she would certainly miss being able to sing and dance like that.

At least she has the boys now.

Leila was snapped out of her thoughts when Alex bumped into Luke, stumbling back into her without noticing, Luke nudged Alex and when Julie turned to look, Luke gave her a grin making Leila raise her brows.

As the group finished their performance, Alex pulled Leila off to the side, grabbing her arm abruptly and taking her a little farther away from the group, just enough so that those who could hear and see them, couldn't.

"What's wrong Alex?" Leila asked out of concern as she stared at her anxious brother.

Alex shrugged nervously. "We just haven't really had the time to talk since the beach and..." Alex took a deep breath before looking at his sister, "I've really missed you, Leila."

"I've missed you too." Leila told him softly before pulling her brother into a long-awaited hug, Alex grinned into the hug. He had been wanting to hug his sister since the beach however he was far too shocked and confused at the beach and after that, it just never seemed like the right time.

Reggie cleared his throat after walking up to the twins. "Hate to interrupt but I think it's time." Reggie nodded over to where two adults spoke, thanking the group who was apparently named "Dirty Candy" for their performance.

Leila nodded, pulling away from her brother and walking back, barely noticing when Alex threw an arm over her shoulder, she only noticed when Reggie did the same, grinning at her cheekily when she looked at him, Leila looked down with a blush.

"What are you waiting for? This is your time." Reggie told Julie causing Leila to look up, noticing instantly how nervous the girl was, Leila knew the feeling, she had felt it the first time she performed at the club.

"Yeah I mean you look really nervous." Alex continued.

Leila nodded in agreement, "Like yack in a bowl nervous." She agreed.

"I just don't think I had enough time to work on the song." Julie told Luke who focused fully on the girl bringing a smirk to Leila's lips, she saw romance blooming...

"I wouldn't have given you the song if I didn't think you were gonna rock it." Luke told the girl as Leila came to his side.

"It's true, he may not act it but Luke's smart, he knows you can do it and so do I. You'll do great." Leila told the girl, just like her mother, Leila added silently.

Luke ignored her comment as he gestured to the stage, "Now there's a piano on that stage with your name on it."

Julie hesitated for a moment before rushing off as the group watched with grins on their faces, they all knew she would rock it.

The group turned back to the stage just as Julie came out, sitting down at the piano anxiously as the crown began to leave. Nearby, Leila spots the girl from earlier who must be Julie's friend, a nod to the nervous girl who took a deep breath before playing a note, stopping immediately after. Julie stared nervously at the piano keys before looking to her new friends for help.

The group who had been faithfully watching offered encouragement without fail.

"You got this." Luke worded to the girl as Alex and Reggie offered encouraging smiles.

"You can do this." Leila called to the girl, knowing well that no one besides her fellow ghosts and the girl on stage would hear her words, she smiled at the girl who offered a weak smile in return, neither noticed the curious glances their friends sent to the blonde.

Once again, Julie looked at the piano, taking a deep breath before she resumed playing, glancing at her friends once more as the crowd continues to file out, not caring or listening to the music being played.

As Julie begins to sing, a blue light appears above her, no doubt a stage light, and it made Leila smile, the girl was meant to be on stage, just like her mom. "Sometimes I think I'm falling down, I wanna cry, I'm calling out, for one more try to feel alive."

Leila watched as did her friends, she had a fond smile on her face as she thought back to Rose singing, it was almost scary how alike the two were although it made sense. As Leila watched Julie sing, Reggie looked over at the crowd who never slowed in their leave, hoping this wouldn't all be for nothing.

"And when I feel lost and alone," Julie continued to sing on stage, "I know that I can make it home." Finally, people began to notice the singing, "Fight through the dark and find the spark."

As some of the crowd turns to look at Julie singing, the talented girl continued, "Life is a risk but I will take it, close my eyes and jump." Luke placed a hand on Reggie's shoulders and one on Leila's, a silent conversation between the three, a question and an answer.

Reggie and Alex sent Luke smiles, agreeing with the silent plan however Leila shook her head taking a step back causing the boys to send her a mixture of confused and concerned looks as Julie sang on stage, "Together I think that we can make it," Just before they poofed onto the stage with their instruments, joining in the performance just as Leila wished she could.

"And rise through the night!" Julie sang as she looked to find most of her ghost friends standing on stage, playing with her, the students cheer as Julie briefly glances over to Leila, wondering why the girl didn't join them on stage before continuing with her performance which had just gotten a lot more interesting. "You and I, we will fight to shine together," Julie couldn't help but giggle as she stepped away from the piano however her singing never failed. "We will fight to shine together," Julie walked towards Luke as he walked backward on stage before looking at Reggie who was playing his bass, "Bright forever!"

As Julie continued to sing, the crowd crowding around the stage, Luke jumped onto the mini platform that Alex's drums sat on, "And rise through the night, you and I, we will fight to shine together," On stage, Julie grew confused as she saw people looking at, not in the direction of or near but at the boys while off stage, Leila's eyes widened, realizing just as Julie did what was going on.

The boys were being seen.

"Bright forever!" Julie sang a high note as Luke jumped off Alex's platform, Julie went over to Luke and seemed to say something however Leila couldn't tell what, Luke responded before walking over to his microphone.

"In times that I doubted myself," Luke sang as the crowd cheered and Leila watched with a smile, happy that her boys could do what they loved again. If only she could do the same.

"I felt like I needed some help, stuck in my head," Julie jammed out with Reggie as Luke sang, "With nothing left! I feel something around me now, so unclear, lifting me out," Julie turned to Alex, stretching out her arms in pure joy as Luke continued to sing, "I found the ground, I'm marching on!"

Reggie joined Luke at his microphone as they began to sing together, "Life is a risk but we will take it, close my eyes and jump," Leila smiled just a bit wider at hearing Reggie's voice, she had always loved his voice and had often suggested (subtly of course) that Reggie sing more in certain songs."Together I think that we can make it," Reggie tore his eyes from Luke to glance at Leila giving her a smile before Luke patted him on the chest, drawing his attention back as they continued, "Come on let's run"

Julie joined in with Luke as Reggie walked back to his spot, his eyes catching Leila's once more, nodding to the stage, hoping the girl would join and frowning when her smile fell as she shook her head. "And rise through the night, you and I," Leila tore her eyes from Reggie's as she focused on Julie and Luke singing together, a forced smile on her lips as Reggie watched her closely, "We will fight to shine together, bright forever,"

"And rise through the night, you and I, we will fight to shine together," The duo repeated as the crowd danced along turning Leila's fake smile into a real but small one. "Bright forever!" Luke and Julie sang the high note together before Luke continued solo.

"In times that I doubted myself," Julie approached Luke with her microphone outstretched for him, without hesitation, Luke went to the microphone, "I felt like I needed some help," Luke sang, following Julie's microphone like a lovesick puppy dog as Julie walked backward, their eyes never straying from each other as the crowd cheered, "Stuck in my head," Alex moved his mic closer, exciting Leila who knew what that meant, "with nothing left."

Julie took her microphone back to herself as Julie and Luke leaned over the edge of the stage, Luke playing his guitar into her mic as she sang, "And when I feel lost and alone," Reggie sent a girl in the crowd, one of the dancers from earlier, a wink making Leila frown, tensing as she shuffled, forcing herself to smile and get lost in the music, "I know that I can make it home, fight through the dark," Julie turned away from the crowd, walking back, straight through Luke who didn't seem at all phased as he continued playing as the crowd went wild, "And find the spark!"

Together, the boys sang as Julie rang her high note out, "And rise through the night, you and I, we will fight to shine together," Leila's smile once again became real as she heard her brother's voice for the first time in far too long.

"Shine together!" Julie repeated.

"Bright forever," The boys sang however Leila's eyes were stuck on Reggie, something that didn't go unnoticed by Luke who smirked, everyone knew they had a crush on each other, everyone except them, but until now, Luke wasn't sure if that fact was still true on Leila's side.

"Bright forever!" Julie sang.

Together, they all continued singing, "And rise through the night, you and I, we will fight to shine together," As a group, a band, for the first time, they finished the song together, "Bright forever!" Julie held her mic in the air as the boys slowly stopped playing their instruments, all of them taking deep breaths, Reggie's eyes going to Leila as the crowd cheered loudly, reminding Leila of being at a concert.

Together, they bowed for their first crowd, little did they know it was nowhere near their last.

The group stood straight once more, Reggie's eyes going to Leila, sending her a wink before the boys disappeared leaving a shocked crowd behind, with wide eyes, Leila poofed out, wondering where the boys went to now.

♪ 𝟸,𝟹𝟿𝟼 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	29. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚘𝚟 ♪

Leila poofs into a random hallway where she begins her search for the boys, she calls their names as she walks along the empty hallway until finally one of them called back.

"Over here, Leila!" Luke shouted from nearby.

Leila furrowed her brows and looked around in confusion. Over where? Leila was about to ask the said question when she spotted them standing nervously in the hallway, a janitor made his way around the school behind them however it was clear he couldn't see any of them as he danced along the way, whistling under his breath.

"Did you see that?" Alex asked in amazement as Leila poofed in front of them.

"They could see us, like actually see us!" Luke exclaimed with a big grin, thrilled at the memory of the crowd cheering for them, again. He could still hear their cheers.

None of the boys realized how much they had missed it until they finally did it again.

"I know." Leila told them with a grin.

"But..." Reggie spoke, stepping in front of them to gain my full attention. "Why didn't you want to join us?"

Leila bit her lip as Alex and Luke suddenly became all too curious, nearly as curious as Reggie. "I just- I haven't played in 25 years." She offered weakly with a shrug.

"So? We haven't played in 25 years-" Luke stopped short, "Wait, you haven't played since we died?" He questioned, when Leila shook her head he continued.

"Did you sing?" She shook her head.

"Play piano?" Another shake of her head.

"Dance? Anything?" Leila looked at the floor as she shook her head. "Did you- did you even listen to music?" Leila hesitated, she had done that of course, especially after meeting Rose who had ignited her love of music once more.

"After some time." Leila responded.

Alex, Reggie, and Luke stared at Leila in utter shock and disbelief. None of them could believe that a girl who had once said she couldn't live without music just dropped music after they died.

Reggie realized it first, then Alex.

She couldn't live without music. But not the music they were thinking of. Sometimes, music could be a person, even if just a person who inspired your love of music, and they were hers.

She couldn't live without them.

"Leila I-" Alex was cut off as Julie came around the corner, Leila poofed to their sides, appearing beside Reggie as Luke took his place in between Reggie and Alex, who stood on his left.

Leila watched in amusement as the boys set up to scare the girl, going further down the hall to get the full spook effect, Leila remembered when they had done the same to her, and her friends. She had always laughed at it however her friends did not enjoy it nearly as much as she did.

"Julie!" They shouted just as she came around the corner, Leila watched in amusement, a smirk on her face.

"Ah! You!" Julie shouted in anger and shock. "Stop doing that!" Luke jumped off the boys at her words. "I'm serious." She lectured.

"Woah! This ones all on you. We were already here." Reggie told the girl, "Well, actually, we were over there, and then we came over here."

"Are we not gonna talk about what just happened?" Luke asked Julie.

"Yeah, the whole school saw you. It's kinda freaking me out." Julie told them with a chuckle as Leila made her way over to Reggie, stopping by his side as he offered her a smile and threw an arm over her shoulder, pulling her closer to him without a word.

"Okay, good, 'cause it's kind of freaking me out too." Alex told her, "you know, you could see us, and then people could see whenever we play music and my clothes are made of air but for some reason, I'm still getting a wedgie."

Leila couldn't help but laugh as Luke patted the blonde on the back, "TMI." She mumbled rolling her eyes. She remembered Willie teaching her everything he knew, including TMI, or too much information.

Alex inhaled sharply, having said all that in one breath, Reggie and Luke looked at him remembering his anxiety as Leila stopped laughing and went to his side after Reggie dropped his arm to look at Alex. "So many questions." Alex said as Leila smiled softly and gave her brother a side hug.

Luke and Reggie turned away from Alex and Leila but n it before Reggie gave Leila a pout which she knew immediately was because of her moving away from him, Leila giggled softly before Luke spoke. "The important thing is that we rocked that place. They were loving you!"

"Are you kidding?" Julie questioned, "They loved us." Julie told him, "That was a great song, Luke. Thanks."

Julie and Luke shared a smile and Leila grinned at the couple before Reggie spoke and Leila's grin fell, "And do you guys see the cheerleaders looking at me? I think they were looking at me." Suddenly Reggie turned to Luke and held his arms, "Please tell me they were looking at me.

Julie chuckled as Luke grabbed the sides of Luke's head, Alex frowning as he hugged Leila a little closer. "Bro, they were looking at you."

"Yeah and so was Leila." Alex piped up however Reggie didn't seem to hear him, if he did, he did a good job at acting like he didn't.

"Oh, I knew it!" Reggie practically squealed in excitement as the two friends released each other.

"I'm so... I'm so confused, you know?" Julie tilted her head as Alex spoke, changing the subject with ease. "The afterlife should come with instructions or a quick start guide or something." Leila chuckled. She wished. Nothing was that easy, not in life and not in death.

"Well, the good thing is that everyone thought you guys were holograms and I got back into the program." Julie looked down at the floor, not nearly as happy as one would expect for a girl who just played on stage and got back into her music program.

"Why do you look so bummed?" Reggie asked curiously.

"Yeah, dude," Luke began, pulling Reggie to his side with one arm as he pulled Alex into his other side, unknowingly pulling the blonde away from his sister, "you're making this face." The boys imitated Julie's face, or their own exaggerated version, which Leila laughed at softly before going quiet as Julie spoke.

"Hmph. That... is not my face." Julie told them.

"Eh." Reggie spoke in disagreement, however not wanting to start an argument he didn't say much else.

"It's your face." Luke told her teasingly.

"And things just got weird between me and Flynn." Leila frowned, "She asked about you guys and I couldn't say." Leila sighed, looking at the floor, she knew how hard it was to lie to your friends

"Sweet." Reggie spoke, "Girls are already talking about us." He stage whispered to Luke who clapped his hand.

Leila glared at them. "Stop." She told them sternly, the boys immediately going silent. They knew better than to mess with her.

"I'm serious." Julie told them drawing their attention back to her. "I can't tell her about you guys for the same reason I can't tell my dad." She continued, "She'll think I've gone off the deep end!"

Suddenly, the wheels of the janitor's cart reminded them that the janitor is there as he wheeled over. "Well, this dude definitely thinks you've gone off the deep end." Reggie told her pointing to the janitor as the boys automatically moved out of the way as if the cart would somehow actually bump into them.

The janitor gave the young lifer a strange look as he paused, a look that Julie returned before he continued with a hum.

"Mm." Reggie hummed with a chuckle as they watched the janitor leave.

"I gotta get back to class." Julie told them, changing the subject as she realized the time.

"Later Julie." Reggie told her as she walked in between Luke and Reggie who once again moved out of the way. "Oh tell those cheerleaders I'm single!" Reggie called after her upon remembering the cheerleaders.

"Oh and that he's dead." Leila called after the girl knowing she was already gone.

"Oh no, no, no! Leave that part out, leave that..." Reggie trailed off as he looked to find her gone. "She's gone."

Leila rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Whoo!" Luke exclaimed with a grin, still caught up in his adrenaline rush before his friends smiled or laughed and poofed away, back to Julie's house or more specifically, their studio.

꧁ 𝟷,𝟺𝟻𝟶 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ꧂


	30. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

Leila sat on the couch next to Reggie, Luke on Reggie's other side, as Alex paced the floor of their studio. The group watched their friend pace anxiously, worrying for the man who didn't seem to slow, let alone stop.

"I think he's practicing his model strut." Reggie whispered to Luke causing Leila, who had heard loud and clear, to roll her eyes.

"He's so nervous, he's almost making me nervous." Luke whispered back to Reggie who nodded in agreement before Alex slowed his pacing to look at them.

"Okay, look, you guys know I don't handle change well." Alex told them.

Leila snorted. "Yeah, you can say that again." She mumbled, her comment went ignored as Alex continued.

"All right? Death? That was a change." Reggie made a face of agreement as Alex continued, "Ok then we became ghosts. All right? Another change." Leila was almost surprised he wasn't counting off on his fingers as he spoke however when he continued, she tensed. "Then we find out Leila's a ghost too, another change." The boys glanced at Leila who tried to hide into the couch until Alex continued, drawing the attention away from his sister and back to him. "And... now we can be seen whenever we play with Julie. Big freaking change!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, but, bro, it was a good change." Luke told him, "With Julie, we can play on stage again and be the band we never got to be." Reggie nodded with a smile as he looked at Luke, however, his smile fell slightly when he glanced at Leila to find her frowning, looking down at her lap. Reggie reached out for her hand, a motion that did not go unnoticed by Alex.

Before Alex could say anything to his friend and sister, Luke continued, having not noticed the hand-holding between his friends, "Come on. I mean, you gotta be down for that."

"Yeah, I mean who wouldn't be?" Once again Alex glanced at Leila who bit her lip. "I just... you know I wanna figure out why."

"Forget why." Luke replied as he stood up, "Man, I say we invite Julie to join Sunset Curve." Leila's eyes widened, glancing at Alex instantly to see how he felt knowing that be another, as he put it, big freaking change.

Reggie stood up after his friend. "Yeah totally. I mean like think about it. With a new lead singer and Leila, this band would be legendary."

"Hey!" Luke called in offense. "I'm our lead singer."

"Dude, that girl has the voice of an angel, and she can make us visible." Reggie told Luke as Alex began pacing again, Leila followed Alex's movements, worried about her brother although she stayed quiet, her mind stuck on Julie. "Without her, we're just like elevator music."

"You don't gotta be so mean about it." Luke said making Leila chuckle, surprised that he wasn't pouting. "And we're on the runway again." Luke exclaimed as he noticed Alex pacing.

"Okay, I'm sorry, all right? I just..." Alex took a deep breath as he looked at his friends, "I gotta go clear my head." Alex walked away from his friends and went to grab the door, however his hand went right through it as Leila stood up behind him.

"Dude, you're a ghost just poof out." Reggie told his friend who turned back to him.

"Don't tell me how to ghost!" Alex snapped almost childlike as Leila rushed after him.

"Alex wait!" Leila exclaimed and just as Alex began to disappear, she grabbed onto him, poofing along with him despite not knowing where he was going.

♪♪

The twins appeared on Hollywood Boulevard as Alex turned to Leila with wide eyes as the girl took a deep breath. She did not like poofing without knowing where.

"What are you doing?" Alex practically hissed.

Leila rolled her eyes as she brushed herself off. "I'm coming with you, duh."

Alex huffed. "I just want to be alone for a while Leila." He told her softly, keeping his voice calm and stern.

Leila crossed her arms over her stomach before she spoke, "Look Alex you're my brother. I'm not leaving you alone when you're like this so just deal with it."

Alex groaned. "Fine just... let's just go for a walk." He told her, Leila nodded and without another word the twins began to walk down Hollywood Boulevard, relaxing on the familiar path as they silently listened to the chatter around them.

Alex froze in his tracks as he spotted two men dressed in ghostbuster costumes. Leila looked at him in confusion having not noticed the men as she had been looking at the stars on the sidewalk. "Oh god, we're busted." Alex said as he took a step back, Leila chuckled as she noticed what he was talking about watching with a smirk as he ducked before they went right through him, never taking notice of the blond.

Alex cleared his throat as he stood straight and glared at his sister. "Could've told me they weren't real." He told her with a roll of his eyes as she laughed.

Once Leila stopped laughing, the twins continued on her way until Leila heard a familiar voice and froze. She listened for a moment, knowing it was him as soon as she heard his words. "Coming through!" The skater called to the lifers.

"Hey what's wrong?" Alex asked as he walked back to his twin.

"I uh I have to go Alex." She told him anxiously, glancing back as if the skater would appear right in front of her any second. She could see him vaguely as well as the boy behind him who followed the skater with an annoyed sigh. Jasper. She thought, recognizing him immediately as well.

"O-okay," Alex said giving her a word look before she poofed away, offering her twin a weak smile before she disappeared completely.

Not a minute after Leila disappeared, Alex fell to the ground as the skater Leila was trying to avoid, ran into him, thinking he was a lifer.

It seemed Leila had poofed away just in time.

♪♪

Leila appeared outside of the studio with a sigh as she relaxed, knowing the skater wouldn't find her here. She hoped she didn't worry her brother as she turned around to see what her boys were up to, she stood on her tiptoes to peek into the studio to find Luke and Reggie holding their instruments as they chatted.

She stepped back with another sigh. She didn't feel like seeing them quite yet as she knew they would ask questions, questions she did not want to answer. She turned around and sat on the concrete, not knowing what else to do, when she spotted Julie go into her house. Then, Leila figured out exactly what she wanted to do however it took her a moment to work up the courage to actually do it.

Leila stood up and poofed into Julie's room just as the girl opened her door.

Julie let out a scream when she saw the girl standing in front of her. "What are you doing here?!" Julie hissed as she nearly slammed her door shut.

"I just... I want to talk to you, Julie." Leila told the girl who softened upon seeing how nervous the girl was.

"Okay, what about?" Julie asked curiously as the girl sighed and sat down at the edge of Julie's bed. Julie followed her, sitting down beside the blonde on her bed.

"Well first off," Leila started, "I wanted to tell you, I know how it feels to fight with your best friend and... I may not know either of you well but... if she's really your best friend, she'll understand." Julie went to protest however Leila cut her off before she could utter a word, "I know it's hard to trust someone, I know how you're feeling even if you think I don't. When I lost the boys, I thought I would never so much as pick up an instrument again but my best friend, he was always there for me, cheering me on, and before I died, I sang for him." Leila didn't mention that it was when she had begun to give up, knowing she didn't have much time left and forced herself to sing causing her to go to the hospital, the song was more of a goodbye than an 'I'm back to music' song nor that she hadn't finished the song.

Leila sighed. "What I'm trying to say is, she's your best friend and good best friends are hard to find so... if you really trust her, tell her."

"Tell her what?" Julie asked confused.

Leila smiled softly. "Tell her everything." She told the girl who went quiet, thinking about it as Leila stood up. "I better get going." She told Julie who snapped herself out of it and nodded.

"Thanks, Leila." She told Leila who smiled.

"No problem Julie." Leila took a deep breath about to poof out when she remembers something. "Oh and Julie," Julie hummed in acknowledgment, "Your mom would be really proud of you." Julie's eyes widened however before she could ask the girl how she knew that or if she knew her mom, the blonde disappeared leaving Julie alone in her room with far too many questions.

Julie nearly ran after the girl when she heard music playing loudly, she recognized it as the boys' instruments as she groaned, going over to her window, Julie opened it and looked out at the studio.

Julie glared down at the studio as if the boys would be able to see it. "What do they think they're doing." Julie grumbled before she huffed, shutting her window before spinning around and practically stomping outside to the studio.

♪♪

Leila appeared behind Reggie and Luke who didn't seem to notice her as they continued to play instruments loudly, Leila grinned fondly as she sat down on the couch, watching silently, simply taking in the familiar scene.

"Reggie, what do you think of this one?" Luke asked his friend before playing a new tune on his guitar.

Reggie grinned. "Sweet, I'm feeling that." He told his friend as the beanie-wearing boy continued, "And then I come in with a little, uh..." Reggie trailed off as he played a tune as well.

"Then Julie comes in with her killer lyrics." Luke continued with a grin.

"And Sunset Curve is reborn." Reggie finished just as the studio doors opened causing Leila's eyes to widen as she spotted Julie enter, seemingly the only one to notice the girl until she spoke.

"Guys you aren't supposed to be out here playing alone." Julie told them as Luke and Reggie turned to her.

"But we're not alone, 'cause we always have each other." Reggie said as Luke put an arm over the boy's shoulder.

Julie rolled her eyes as Reggie chuckled. "Ugh." Leila cowered back into the couch, hoping that by some miracle they wouldn't notice her as Julie walked over to the amp and unplugged it.

"But... we had the volume level on one!" Luke protested setting his guitar down as Julie walked over to his side, stopping a couple of feet in front of them.

"But we rocked it on volume ten." Reggie told her proudly. "You want us to play it again?"

Without a word, Julie reached over and unplugged the other amp, holding up the cord as her answer. "I don't think she does." Luke told his friend.

"No." Reggie agreed as he set down his bass.

"We've actually been waiting for you to get home." Luke told the girl as Leila raised her brows however she stayed silent, they hadn't noticed her yet and if she was lucky they wouldn't notice her at all. "Okay, so, we have some pretty major news to tell you." Julie watched not nearly as excited as Luke or Reggie.

"We had a band meeting earlier and..." Luke trailed off as Reggie drummed a beat with his hands on his knees, "We wanna invite you to join Sunset Curve!" Luke exclaimed causing Leila's eyes to widen, she didn't think they'd ask the girl this soon! "And no, you're not dreaming."

"Oh." Julie said causing Leila to frown. That didn't sound good.

"Oh uh... oh, she said 'oh' um." Luke chuckled nervously, "That's what you say when you get socks on your birthday, not when you're invited to join the most epic band ever."

"Sorry I'm honored but I can't think about anything but Flynn right now." And what Leila had said Julie added silently. "She's still mad at me for lying. She hasn't even texted me back."

"Yeah, you're in a tough spot." Luke replied. "So you wanna join the band?" Luke asked again, impatient as ever.

"Read the room Dude." Julie said with a roll of her eyes as she began to walk away.

"Oh come on!" Luke called after her, "We need you, and you need us because you need music." Julie turned back to him as Luke spoke, "We found this poem that you wrote and Reggie and I, we added this really cool melody to it. It sounds awesome."

Julie clearly was not as happy as Luke. "Where'd you find that?" Julie questioned.

"Uh..." Luke started, pulling Reggie in front of him as a shield, "Definitely not in your dream box."

Uh oh, somebody's in trouble. Leila thought with a slight smirk.

"You went through my stuff!" Julie exclaimed as she began to chase Luke.

"I-I know but-" Luke stuttered.

"Yeah, we can do that now!" Reggie told the girl, excited about his newfound ability to pick stuff up again.

Leila shook her head. Poor Reggie.

"No! No, you can't!" Julie exclaimed as she chased Luke around the piano. "Boundaries! Give it back!" Julie said slamming her hands down on the piano as Luke jumped onto it.

"No! Hey, you need to realize how insanely talented you are." Luke told her causing Leila to think off all the times Luke had encouraged her talent. "Ok? Listen to this. 'If somebody hurts you'-" Luke was cut off as Julie snatched the paper away however Luke continued anyway. "If somebody hurts you, I'm gonna get hurt too." Luke began to sing the rest, "and my life, my life would be really low, zero, flying solo."

"Oh-oh!" Reggie sang with a grin, Luke and Leila smiled at him as Julie turned to him before turning back to Luke.

"It's a killer melody." Luke told the girl.

Julie sighed. "I wrote that about Flynn." She told him, "when she was helping me with all my mom stuff." Julie turned around as she spoke, "I gotta go."

"Hey what about the band?" Luke called after her.

"Oh, I almost forgot..." Julie started as she opened the doors, she continued as she stepped out, turning back to look at the boys, still not noticing Leila to her happiness. "Stay out of my room!"

With that, Julie slammed the studio doors shut.

You go girl, Leila thought with a grin.

"Yeah?!" Luke called after her, running up to the door and poking his head out, "We will if you join our band!" Luke got no reply causing him to sigh and turn back, his eyes widening at the sigh of Leila sitting on the couch.

Leila's eyes widened as she realized she had been spotted as Reggie turned to her as well. "Where have you been?!" Luke exclaimed, Leila merely smiled at her friends sheepishly.

♪ 𝟸,𝟻𝟿𝟼 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	31. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

"Where have you been?!" Luke exclaimed as Leila smiled sheepishly.

Reggie stared at her with wide eyes, "Yeah you like disappeared!" He added.

Leila shrugged nervously as she rubbed her arm, "I wanted to talk to Julie." She told them.

"Julie? But she was here?" Reggie asked in confusion as he stood next to Luke who had at some point moved closer to Leila, now only a few feet in front of Leila.

Leila shook her head. "I talked to her before she came in here, Reg." She explained patiently.

"Oooh!" Reggie responded, nodding his head. "That makes sense."

Leila chuckled before Luke brought her attention back to him. "Okay, how long have you been there?"

Leila bit her lip anxiously as she shrugged once more. "Since Julie came in?" She answered nervously.

"What?!" Luke exclaimed, always the ball of energy.

Leila winced at the loud noise which Reggie noticed as he moved just a step closer to her, aching to comfort her, something that if Luke knew he would tease him about it for an eternity, which was now apparently possible.

"How did we not notice you?" Luke asked in shock.

Leila shrugged offering a small grin. "I guess I'm just that good." She joked anxiously.

Luke went to say something until Reggie interrupted, changing the subject for Leila who obviously did not enjoy the current one. "How about we work on the new song now?"

Luke was quick to agree, always ready, and willing to work on a new song or anything involving music. "Yeah sounds good!" Luke beamed already heading to the piano to work on their new song with Julie's dream box lyrics.

Reggie didn't follow Luke, not immediately at least. He looked at Leila first, hoping by some miracle she would want to join, to spend time with not only him but Luke as well. "Do you want to help Lei?" He asked hopefully, an excited gleam in his eyes.

Leila hated to be the one to make that gleam, that hope go away, but she couldn't. "Reg— I can't." She shook her head.

Luke gave her a strange look as Reggie looked heartbroken, Leila recognized Luke's look as confusion when he spoke, "What's up with you and music lately?"

Leila tensed as she cowered back into the couch somewhat, wishing she could just disappear into its comfortable cushions. "I— Can we not talk about it right now?" Leila offered Luke a pleasing look as she begged him, "Please Luke?"

Luke sighed and nodded as Reggie stopped across from him, glancing back at Leila out of concern. It was strange to see. In the past, Leila had been the second after only Luke to jump right into the process of making a song, playing her instrument, or anything involving music.

Luke and Leila would often be found in the studio before any of the others, playing their instruments to the empty room, or writing a new song on the couch together.

Reggie was actually jealous of it at first, having had a crush on the girl for years, and then he realized what was really going on between Luke and Leila.

They were best friends, like two peas in a pod. Even the band couldn't have been as close as those two.

They're inseparable, or they were anyway.

Things had changed, even before the bands passing, they all noticed it. Leila had begun to distance herself from the band, Alex often stressed about Leila avoiding him, they knew why when she began coming back but only when Bobby wasn't around. They never found an exact reason but they knew.

"Alright listen to this," Luke called after a moment of studying the possible lyrics in silence, "Guess that means I'm buying lunch that day," Leila smiled as Luke sang softly in the studio, "I know all your secrets, you know all my deep dish guess that means that some things they never-"

Reggie cut Luke off as he spoke to ask a question, "Wait, so when she says deep dish or is she talking about like pizza or..." Leila chuckled as she smiled fondly at the boy, a smile only Luke had the pleasure of seeing since Reggie wasn't facing the blonde girl.

Before Luke or Leila could even attempt to answer Reggie's question, Alex poofed in right in between the boys on top of the piano.

"Woah! Hey man, where you been?" Reggie exclaimed curiously.

Alex had a grin on his face one that Leila recognized.

Alex has a crush.

Leila sat on the edge of the couch as he spoke, "Um kind of everywhere. Yeah, I met a new ghost friend."

"For real?" Reggie asked with wide eyes.

Leila's eyes widened. That's right, they don't know there are other ghosts out there... they didn't know much of anything about the ghost life really.

"He answered a ton of questions." Alex told them.

"Yeah like whether Julie's gonna join the band or not?" Luke asked, tugging the lyric papers away from Alex before slamming the notebook on the piano as he stared at Alex.

"Well we didn't- we didn't really get to that," Alex replied giving Luke a strange look before turning to Reggie, "But I think I know why we're here, okay all ghosts have unfinished business so we need to do our unfinished business so that we can crossover." He explained to Reggie who listened closely, hanging onto every word.

Leila sighed from on the couch. It was never that easy.

"Why would we do that?" Luke questioned. "I'm just saying this is like our second chance all we need to do is get Julie to play with us."

"Yeah not only can that girl sing, she can write too." Leila spoke announcing her presence to Alex who had yet to see her as she walked over to the boys, standing next to Reggie.

"Luke and I made a killer melody to one of her lyrics." Reggie told his friend after grinning at Leila.

Luke picked up the papers and handed them to Alex who began to briefly read them. "Oh without you drummer." Alex said, "Cool."

"Drumming is so 90's, okay, we're just gonna-" Luke stomped his feet as if to demonstrate, "stomp our feet now." He teased the drummer.

"Okay well, you know what is so 90's? Being rude." Alex retorted. "Alright? Get woke, these are sensitive times."

Leila snorted knowing exactly who had taught him that saying as Alex pushed the notebook into Luke's arms before turning to Reggie and leaning in to whisper to the two, "I learned that from my new ghost friend."

"Woke." Reggie repeated with a grin.

"Yeah." Alex responded.

"It's a cool word." Reggie told him.

Leila smirked as she spoke up, "What does it mean?" She asked innocently as if she didn't already know.

"No clue." Alex told them making Leila chuckle.

♪♪

Leila was sitting on the couch with Reggie who had let Alex take over in helping Luke with the lyrics to sit with her, his arm was over his shoulder as Leila smiled, curling into his side and ignoring the cheeky grins Alex would send her way when Reggie wasn't looking as Reggie did the same to Luke's.

Suddenly, the studio door opened to reveal Julie who seemed to be somewhat panicked. "Guys!" Julie called as she stepped into the studio, shutting the door behind her with a slam no doubt louder than she had expected as she winced.

Leila and Reggie jumped, Reggie's arm falling off of Leila's shoulder as he pulled it back while Luke and Alex turned to Julie, hiding the fact that they had also jumped at her sudden appearance. "What's wrong Julie?" Alex asked.

"I told Flynn about you guys and I kinda sorta told her we would perform for her." Julie admitted, rushing her words out.

"What?" Leila exclaimed in shock.

Julie hardly glanced at her despite her mind immediately going back to her previous conversation with the girl as she focused on Luke, "Is that song... a song?"

"Oh?" Luke asked with a smirk, "I thought you didn't like it."

Julie rolled her eyes as she narrowed them at the boy. "I don't like you going through my stuff but it may help now." Julie told him.

Luke nodded with a grin as he handed her the lyrics he had written down in his notebook. "It's a song." He told her teasingly as she read through the lyrics.

"When is this performance?" Leila asked curiously with a raised brow.

"Uh in thirty minutes." Julie answered casually.

"Thirty minutes?" Alex asked in disbelief.

Luke had no doubts as he nodded with a smile. "We can do that."

Julie released a sigh of relief at his words. "Good." She responded.

"If you join the band." Luke finished his sentence with a smirk.

Julie sent him a glare as she looked up from the lyrics. "If you do this for me, I'll think about it." She told him.

Luke took that as a win as he began to beam from excitement.

"Hey Leila." Reggie called hopefully. Leila hummed from beside him, a soft smile on her lips, "You wanna join us?"

Leila tensed immediately. "Reg-"

Reggie sighed and shook his head as Alex gave her a strange look, making a mental note to talk to her about that later. If anyone could get a straight answer from the girl, it was him. "I get is Leila. I had to try right?" Reggie attempted the playful, cheery tone he usually held however it just didn't sound right which was no doubt the cause of Leila's frown.

"Anyway," Julie spoke drawing the attention back to her, "we need to rehearse before Flynn gets here."

Luke nodded with a grin as Reggie stood from the couch with not even a glance sent back to Leila who gazed at him but never stood to follow him like he wanted, "Let's do it!" Luke exclaimed always excited to play.

"Yeah!" Reggie called with a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes as he went over to his bass, Alex grinned however he stayed silent as he went to his drums, Julie chuckled as she went to her mic and Luke to his guitar.

Leila watched the band rehearse from the couch.

Luke was right, she thought, this was their second chance, she just wondered when hers would come, if she was even lucky enough to get one.

♪ 𝟷,𝟽𝟻𝟶 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	32. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚜𝚒𝚡

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

Leila was sitting on the couch, watching Julie pace in the middle of the room as the boys stood by their instruments waiting and watching the anxious girl who couldn't seem to relax.

"So what about Leila?" Alex piped up curiously as he twirled his drumsticks.

Julie paused, looking between Alex and Leila. "I'm honestly not sure." She shrugged, "Do you want to join?" She asked the girl who immediately shook her head.

"I'm fine staying invisible." Leila told her with a nervous smile, "They're the ones who want to be in the spotlight." She nodded over to the band.

"Hey!" Luke called in fake offense.

Reggie shrugged. "She's not wrong."

Alex stayed silent merely chuckling at the scene as Julie smiled softly, finally relaxing until a knock sounded in the studio coming from the studio doors.

"Alright!" Reggie exclaimed with a grin. "It's our time to shine."

Leila chuckled as she watched the bassist with a soft grin that always seemed to appear when he was around. "You're cute Reg." Leila commented without thinking, she didn't notice the blush on Reggie's cheeks that matched the one on hers.

Julie didn't seem to notice any of it as she rushed to the door, Luke and Alex however saw all of it, glancing between each other with a grin and a roll of their eyes, wondering when the two would realize how perfect they are for one another.

When Julie opened the door, her friend, Flynn, stepped back, crossing her arms over her stomach as Julie chuckled nervously. "Thanks for coming." She told her friend, "We just wanted to rehearse the song so it's perfect, which it's not but whatever." Leila shook her head, knowing the girl, it wouldn't be perfect no matter how many times they rehearsed. She happened to think it was brilliant and she knew the boys agreed, Julie was just nervous. Understandably so.

"No, if I'm gonna hear a song for your imaginary ghost band, I want it to be perfect." Leila snorted, she liked her. "So get back in there." Flynn shooed the girl back in before pointing at... nothing. The boys grinned from their spots as Leila chuckled. "All of you. You too."

Julie chuckled at her friend. "They're not out here." She told her.

"Oh, I know." Flynn responded.

Flynn walked into the studio as Julie sighed, closing the door behind the girl before spinning back around to look at the boys with a grin. "Alright guys, you ready?" She asked them.

"Yeah!" Luke exclaimed with an excited grin.

Alex nodded with an encouraging smile while Reggie shook his head, "I need space! This chick is all over me," Reggie looked at Flynn who was standing in his way, "and not in a good way." He said cheekily, Leila chuckled, "I need space to rock out." He told Julie with a grin.

Julie couldn't help but roll her eyes before looking at Flynn. "Uh actually, can you go over there? Reggie needs some space to rock out and he feels kinda weird walking through you." She asked her friend.

Flynn chuckled in disbelief as she pointed at her friend while she spoke, "Boy when you create a world you really live in it." Julie went around her, pulling over a chair and forcing her friend to sit in it as Leila watched with amusement.

"If you'll notice, there's no equipment that will produce a hologram." Julie pointed out her hands on her friend's shoulders, gesturing occasionally. Julie patted her friend's shoulder and spoke as she walked away, "Feel free to look around."

Flynn flipped her hair back as she looked around before getting comfy in the chair.

Julie took a deep breath as she paused in front of her piano. "The guys took a poem I wrote about you and put it into music." She told her friend, Luke nodded enthusiastically from his spot.

"Aww! I wish I didn't have to talk to your dad after this." Flynn responded.

"Oh trust me," Leila spoke as if the lifer could see her as she went around to Reggie, throwing an arm over his shoulder, "You won't have to."

Julie chuckled lightly as Reggie looked at the girl with wide eyes before hiding his surprise with a smirk. "It's called 'Flying Solo.'" Julie told her friend, "Hope you like it."

Julie turned around to her keyboard, pressing buttons on it that made a beat echo in the studio before hitting repeat and turning to her piano, sitting down gracefully as she began to sing almost immediately.

"If I leave you on a bad note, leave you on a sad note." Julie started staring at her friend. "Guess that means I'm buying lunch that day, I know all your secrets,"

Leila grinned at Alex, her best friend, he knew all of her secrets like Flynn knew all Julie's. The difference was, Alex wasn't just Leila's best friend, he was her twin as well, and in a way, that was the same thing and yet so much better.

"you know all my deep dish, guess that means some things they never," Julie continued, "they never change. We both know what, what I, what I mean," Julie's fingers paused, her next verse carrying a different tone to it, one not nearly as soft as the first, Leila knew what this meant as she stepped away from Reggie, not noticing the disappointed look on her face as she went over to the ground piano, sitting down with a sigh, wishing she could be apart of this like she used to as Julie continued, "When I look at you it's like I'm looking at me."

The boys grinned as they started playing, appearing to Flynn's eyes causing the girl to scream as Julie sang. "My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo."

The boys chimed in next, adding to the song, "Oh-oh-oh." They didn't have many (if any) big lines in this song and they all knew why, this was Julie's song, well, Julie and Flynn's song.

"My life, my life would be real low, zero flying solo without you," Julie sang.

"Oh-Oh-Oh." The boys repeated.

"Hey!" They all shouted together.

"Yeah, yeah," Julie sang as she walked away from her piano.

"hey!" They shouted together.

"Yeah yeah," Julie sang in front of Flynn, "My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you,"

Julie paused her singing, the boys strumming softer as Julie kneeled in front of her friend, taking her hand in hers as she continued to sing, "Yeah you know who I'm liking, way before I like them, duh cause you like them first."

Flynn hummed in agreement with a chuckle.

"And if somebody hurts you I'm gonna get hurt too, that's just how we work, yeah that's just how we work." Julie sang, "It will never change,"

"Change," The boys chorused behind her as Leila pretended not to notice Alex's eyes on her.

"We both know what I, what I, what I mean," Julie sang with a grin.

"Mean," The boys chorused, Reggie and Luke sharing Luke's mic.

"When I look at you it's like I'm looking at me!" Julie sang before she stood up, dragging Flynn along with her, "My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo,"

"Oh-oh." The boys chorused.

"My life, my life would be real low, zero," Julie sang as she tugged Flynn over to Luke. "Flying solo without you," Julie continued,

"Hey!" They shouted together causing Flynn to jump back.

Julie looked at her friend nervously before continuing, tugging her over to the drummer next, "Yeah, yeah," Julie sang as Alex offered Julie's friend a grin.

"Hey!" They sang together once more.

"Yeah, yeah, my life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you," Julie sang waving her friend over to Reggie next as she made her own way over to the bassist, her friend following her.

The boys strummed lightly as Julie paused her singing, Flynn experimentally raised her hand to Reggie's shoulder, her hand going through it with a whoosh as Reggie watched her.

Leila watched from the grand piano nearby with a scowl, lifers.

"Weird, right?" Reggie said with a chuckle that brought a smile to Leila's face. At least he wasn't bothered by the actions of the lifer.

Flynn stared at the bassist in shock before she spoke, "They're ghosts!"

"No, really?" Leila spoke sarcastically with a roll of her eyes, knowing well that the lifer couldn't see her however it did gain a chuckle from Reggie as Alex spoke.

"Oh actually, we prefer uh musician spirits." Reggie pointed at his friend in agreement as Leila shook her head with a fond smile.

"Julie..." Luke called into his microphone, "So does this mean you're joining our band?" He asked anxiously as he strummed his guitar to keep them visible.

Julie approached Luke as Flynn followed, "Um..." Flynn started, "Actually, I think you're joining her band." Flynn told the boy, flipping her hair back as Luke grinned.

"I'm gonna go with what she said." Julie said resting her elbow on her friend's shoulder.

Reggie made a motion as he looked at the girls in slight surprise, Luke shook his head with a grin and Leila chuckled from the piano. "Is that a blush I see Patterson?" She called out teasingly, Luke huffed sending her a glare as Alex's drums kicked in, the girls chuckling as they turned around although Flynn was oblivious to what actually happened.

"My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo," Julie started up again.

"Oh-oh." The boys chorused.

"My life, my life would be real low, zero flying solo without you," Julie sang with Luke as she danced around with Flynn.

"Hey! Yeah, yeah," The entire band sang together.

"Hey!!" Julie drawled out.

"Hey! Yeah, yeah." The band repeated.

"My life, my life would be real low, zero," The band sang together, Julie's voice being the main voice to be heard, "flying solo without you," Julie sang solo as Alex stopped the drums.

"Woohoo!" Leila called with a couple of short claps, Reggie chuckled with a grin as Leila stood up from the piano.

"You," Julie sang, ignoring the moment entirely as she rested her head on Flynn's, the girl doing the same in return as Leila stopped beside Reggie, wishing she could get closer to the boy, throw an arm over his shoulder or something but she didn't want to risk the lifer seeing her.

Alex glanced at her in confusion, his brows furrowed but he ignored it for now as Julie spoke, "Still wanna talk to my dad?"

"No, I'm good." Flynn replied making Luke and Leila chuckle as Alex smiled softly from his drums.

The girls both giggle before pulling each other into a hug, happy to not be fighting anymore, Leila fondly remembered having the same type of hug with Jasper after their reunion, she smiled softly at the memory.

The music stopped and, after glancing at the boys, Julie began to pull her friend out of the studio and to her house, "Come on, there's a lot to talk about!" Julie told her friend despite not giving her a chance.

"Woah! Hang on!" Flynn called, "Bye not so imaginary ghost band!" With that, the studio doors shut behind the girls as the boys disappeared from lifers sight, chuckling as they heard Flynn call out to the girl, "Slow down!"

Luke and Reggie set down their guitars as Alex stood up, slipping his guitar sticks into his back pocket before heading over to Leila. "Come on." He told her, nodding to the studio doors, Leila looked at her brother in confusion.

"We need to talk." He told her sternly, "Now." He urged as he began to walk out.

Leila sighed, offering a confused and slightly concerned Reggie a grin as she rushed after her twin, wondering what in the world they needed to talk about so bad.

As well as hoping it wasn't what she thought it was about.

♪ 𝟸,𝟶𝟸𝟸 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	33. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚜𝚒𝚡 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

"Why did you bring me out here, Alex?" Leila questioned with her arms crossed over her stomach.

As soon as Leila got outside of the studio, Alex had shut the doors before beginning to pace, running his hand through his blond hair anxiously. They had been outside for several minutes and, up until Leila spoke, they had both been silent.

"We need to talk." Alex told her as he stopped pacing, standing in front of her.

Leila rolled her eyes. "You said that already, 'Lex." She told him patiently.

Alex nodded. "It's just— we really need to talk." He responded.

Leila nodded. "Okay about what?" Leila asked as she arched a brow at him.

Alex put his hand on his hip and looked at her. "You know what Lei." He told her softly, "Your music."

Immediately Leila shook her head. "No. I'm not talking about this."

"You don't have a choice, Leila. You know we have to, you need to talk about, we both know that." He replied in the same patient tone she had previously held.

Leila cursed him for being able to read her like an open book, her eyes filled with tears as she shook her head insistently. "I can't talk about this, Alex." She whispered, "I just can't."

"Why?" Alex asked gazing into his sister's tear-filled eyes, saddened by the pain that had never been there before... everything. "Why can't you talk about this?" Alex hesitated for a moment, "Why can't you talk to me?"

"I can talk to you, Alex." Leila told him as if the mere thought of her being unable to talk to him was absurd.

"Really?" Alex replied rhetorically. "Then why haven't you?"

Leila sighed. "Alex." She said.

"No Leila." Alex shook his head. "I get it, okay? A lot has changed, but before no matter what happened you always talked to me, you always came to me, so why don't you anymore?" Alex brushed a hand through his hair anxiously. "I mean, what could have possibly been bad enough for you to drop music and stop talking to me?"

Leila looked at the concrete floor outside the studio for a while, thinking things through as she absentmindedly chewed on her bottom lip while Alex stared at her, waiting for a response.

"You want to know?" Leila asked as she looked up. "You really want to know?"

Alex took a deep breath before responding, suddenly not sure of what he was getting himself into. "Yes."

Leila nodded. "Okay." She took a deep breath. "Okay." She whispered to herself. "I can't sing anymore, Alex. I can't dance, I can't sing, I can't do anything."

"What do you me—"

"I mean," Leila cut him off, "I physically can not dance or sing, I can play piano a bit but it's too painful and I haven't written songs because I have to sing while I write and I can't do that anymore—" Leila took a deep, shaky breath. "I can't play my music anymore."

Alex stared at her in shock. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it wasn't... this.

"So it's not that I don't want to sing with you guys, or dance with you and Reggie when you get all goofy, or that I don't want to be part of the band, it's that I can't." Tears began to fall down her face which didn't surprise Leila at all, honestly, she was just surprised they hadn't fallen before. "I can't." She whispered shaking her head softly as she stared at him.

This moment, alone with her brother outside of their studio, was the first time Leila had admitted to any of this since she died.

She had admitted this before she died, she had been at peace with it, and then she died and she had to go through everything again, all the pain of finding out she couldn't do what she had always loved, that she couldn't be who she wanted to be, that she couldn't be her...

"Leila." Alex breathed. "How?" He couldn't help but ask, unsure if he was asking how, or rather what, had done this to her or how she had done this all alone.

Leila bit her lip, taking yet another deep breath. "It has something to do with how I died." Leila told him briefly.

It was clear that she was leaving a lot out but at that moment, still shocked by her confession, Alex didn't say a word. He stared at her for a moment before shaking his head and going closer to her, before Leila knew it she was wrapped in Alex's arms and she swore she had never felt safer.

She sighed, her tears falling onto his shoulder as she hugged him back just as tightly as he held her if not tighter.

♪ 𝙼𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎... ♪

Luke and Reggie stood awkwardly around the piano for a moment after the twins left, Reggie had begun to whistle the tune to Now or Never under his breath as he looked around the studio and Luke was watching his friend in amusement mixed with curiosity, a question on the tip of his tongue, however, Luke was hesitant to say it out loud.

Finally, Luke bit the bullet and spoke, "So when are you going to tell her?"

Reggie's whistling was cut short as he looked at his friend in confusion, his brows furrowed. "Tell who what?" He asked.

Luke chuckled at how oblivious his friend was. "Tell Leila about your little crush." He smirked.

A blush rose to Reggie's cheeks almost immediately as he began to stutter, "I-uh- well- you see — maybe-"

Finally, Luke chuckled and cut off his friend, "Relax dude it's just a question it's not like I'm giving you a deadline." He told him teasingly.

Reggie breathed. "Sorry, it's just... I really want to tell her." Luke grinned. "But-" Luke's grin fell. "What if she doesn't like me?"

"Are you kidding me?" Luke raised a brow before bursting out in laughter upon realizing his friend was serious.

"Why are you laughing? I'm serious Luke!" Reggie called with a slight pout.

"I'm sorry it's just-" Luke chuckled as he straightened himself. "That girl is head over heels for you, she has adored you for years!" He shook his head, "If she doesn't like you, I will destroy my guitar."

Reggie stared in shock.

Luke's serious.

He used his guitar.

Luke would never say he would destroy his own guitar if he was wrong if he knew he wasn't totally right.

Reggie blinked. "Your serious?" He asked. "You think she really likes me?"

Luke chuckled. "Yes, dude."

Reggie blinked again in shock. "Huh." He said unable to get anything else out.

Luke shook his head at his friend's response just as the studio doors slid open to reveal the Mercer twins.

♪ 𝙾𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘 ♪

After at least four minutes of silence and tears between the Mercer twins, Leila pulled away with protest from Alex who didn't want to let go of his twin yet (or ever) and wiped her tears off her face.

"Come on." She told him softly. "You know the boys can't be alone for too long, remember last time?" She chuckled as Alex shivered dramatically at the memory of the last time Alex and Leila had left Reggie and Luke alone, unattended in the studio.

The twins had gone to get ice cream for the group, it was summer and rather hot in the studio so declaring that they all deserved it, Leila ran off to get ice cream, Alex had quickly followed, making sure the sometimes oblivious girl known as his sister wouldn't get lost, trusting that the teens could handle themselves for ten minutes at most.

When they came back it was made clear they couldn't handle themselves for five minutes let alone ten.

The studio was a mess and after a lecture from both of the Mercer siblings, the band (minus Bobby who was grounded that week) had spent the rest of the day cleaning the studio to perfection, it ended up being cleaner than it had been before the twins left and Reggie and Luke learned an important lesson.

Okay, maybe it was Alex and Leila who learned a lesson from that particular experience; never leave Reggie and Luke also known to Leila as 'Dumb and Dumber' alone.

Alex chuckled a hint of humor mixed in with the sadness of his voice as he spoke. "Don't remind me. We were cleaning all day."

The twins were chuckling when they pushed the doors of the studio open however their laughter could not cover up the tear stains on both their faces and the sadness in their eyes that they knew both their friends would be able to detect with ease.

Leila wasn't sure what she was expecting to see inside the studio but a chuckling Luke who seemed all too happy and a blushing Reggie who also seemed a little too happy was not at all it.

"So the twins are finally back huh?" Luke called with a grin that fell when he saw the tear tracks on both their faces.

"What happened?" Reggie asked before Luke got the chance.

Leila shook her head before Alex could say anything. "Nothing." She said her voice cracking, which, if they didn't already know, gave it away immediately.

Leila forced a smile as she went over to the couch. "Really, Reg, it's nothing." She told the boy who looked between the twins, only giving up when Alex nodded, looking away just as Alex bit his lip nervously, Reggie walked over to the couch and sat down next to the girl.

"I've got you." He told her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

Despite not knowing what happened, Reggie did know that what she needed right now (even if she wouldn't admit it) was someone to be there for her, and Reggie had made her a promise many years ago that he would always be there for her and he wasn't ready to break that promise.

Leila smiled weakly as she curled into his side almost on instinct. "I've got you." He repeated holding her closer as he rested his head on top of hers and closed his eyes.

Off to the side, Luke and Alex watched the pair, shaking their heads with fond smiles as they thought the same thing.

When are they going to see it?

It is that they like each other back of course.

The answer you may be wondering, well, you'll just have to read and find out.

♪ 𝟷,𝟽𝟼𝟼 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey weirdos! I know I haven’t been keeping this one up to date but I finally got the time to update it on here so you’re welcome for all the updates it can be your early Christmas gift from me to you lol 
> 
> speaking of Christmas I am going to be posting a Christmas special soon so look out for that! 
> 
> I am going to be trying to keep this one up to date but since I don’t mainly update on ao3 I tend to forget
> 
> But anyways, I hope you all enjoyed and if you did be sure to...
> 
> Leave kudos,
> 
> Comment,
> 
> And...
> 
> Be a weirdo! Buh bye for now!


	34. 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎

**The Official Her Second Chance Timeline**

**______________**

**October 1994**

_**Halloween Special** _

**______________**

**Early November 1994**

**Luke and Alex start dating**

**______________**

**December 10th, 1994**

**Luke Runs Away**

**______________**

**December 11th, 1994**

**Alex Is Kicked Out**

**______________**

**December 18th, 1994**

_**Christmas Special** _

**______________**

**1995**

_**Chapter One-Chapter Sixteen** _

**______________**

**Mid January 1995**

**The Bobby Incident**

**______________**

**1995, A Month Before The Orpheum**

**Alex and Luke break up**

**______________**

**1995, Two Weeks Before The Orpheum**

_**Chapter One** _

**Leila Runs Away**

**______________**

**1995, The Orpheum**

_**Chapter Five-Chapter Seven** _

**______________**

**1996, Leila's Death**

_**Chapter Seventeen** _

**______________**

**2014, Leila's Return**

_**Chapter Eighteen** _

**______________**

**2015, Jasper and Leila's Reunion**

_**Chapter Nineteen** _

**______________**

**2020**

_**Chapter Twenty-?** _

**To Be Continued...**


	35. Christmas Special

𝚌𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚜 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟺

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

There was a week until Christmas and the studio was empty.

Okay, it wasn't actually empty the studio had become fairly cluttered after Luke and Alex moved in and Reggie practically moved in, even before that the studio had always been cluttered but never this much.

So the studio wasn't empty, but it wasn't decorated for Christmas either. There's no lights hung, no Christmas tree, no stockings, not even a stupid mistletoe and Leila did not like it.

The holiday season was always something the band enjoyed whether together or with their families, but this year was different.

Luke had run away from his home a week ago, Reggie's parents were fighting more so he was staying at the studio nearly every night, and Alex had been kicked out of their home, Bobby had gone on a Christmas vacation after some pushing from the band as they insisted the unfortunate personal events not ruin their bandmates vacation.

The boys weren't the only ones that had something going on, Leila had been spending more time at the studio something all the boys thought was because she felt bad or in a better version that she just wanted to spend time with them, but the truth was Leila hadn't been getting along with her parents and she was sick and tired of hearing them belittle Alex just because of who he liked like he wasn't part of their family.

Yeah, it wasn't just them, they were all going through a rough time right now, however unlike the boys, Leila chose to focus on something else.

Well to be completely honest, she was like the boys, because rather than working through things and figuring it out, she chose to throw herself into something else, in her case that was making this Christmas the best Christmas yet for Sunset Curve, in the boys' case it was throwing themselves into their music, so at the end of the day, she was actually a lot like them.

Leila pursed her lips as she looked around the studio seemingly offended by how plain the walls were, with no decorations in sight.

She had just gotten back to the after her dance practice, her bag thrown carelessly by the door. The boys were already there, minus Bobby, of course, Luke was writing something down in his songbook while Reggie was tuning his bass and Alex was twirling his drumsticks as he watched his sister.

"What's wrong Lei?" Alex finally called out to her bringing his friend's attention to the girl.

Leila shook her head, smiling at her brother. "It's nothing."

Reggie frowned, setting down his bass and going over to Leila, "Come on tell us, ballerina." Leila rolled her eyes at the nickname, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach as she always did, every day after practice it was the same nickname, it only got worse when they started coming to her shows, sometimes he wouldn't stop calling her ballerina for weeks!

"What do you guys think about decorating?"

Immediately after the words left her lips, Leila regretted them.

Luke tensed as Reggie furrowed his brows. "Decorating for what?

"Christmas." Leila told him hesitantly, glancing at Luke.

Luke slammed his songbook closed before he cleared his throat, set down his songbook, and stood up. "I'm going to get some air." He told them stiffly before rushing out of the studio.

None of them said a word as they watched him walk out however once the studio doors closed Leila sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I shouldn't have said anything." She shook her head. "I just thought we should all focus on something else." She shrugged.

Alex sighed, slipping his drumsticks into his back pocket as he stood up. "It's not your fault Leila, he's just... it's only been a week and before everything, he was hopeful that the holiday would make everything better somehow." Alex shrugged as he approached his sister.

"Still..." Leila said.

"Still nothing." Alex told her with a stern no-nonsense look.

"I think decorating is a good idea." Said Reggie with a grin.

Leila furrowed her brows as she looked at him in confusion. "You do?" She asked in shock.

Reggie nodded hesitantly, shying away suddenly. "Yeah it's just I've never really had much of a Christmas and well Luke does need cheering up and he's always loved Christmas..." Reggie shrugged pathetically, suddenly feeling unsure of himself. "You know what it's probably a bad idea."

"No, Reg, it's a great idea." She smiled softly at him as she wrapped an arm around his waist, giving him a side hug.

Reggie relaxed and wrapped an arm over her shoulder, holding her close with a smile.

"But what about Luke?" Alex asked nervously. "I mean, I'm sure he'll like it once it's done but the actual decorating..." he trailed off but they all knew what he meant.

Luke had always talked about decorating for Christmas with his family, aside from the holiday itself it had always been Luke's favorite part of the season and they all knew it wouldn't be the same for him or any of them, difference was Luke actually had mainly good holiday experiences.

"So we'll keep it a surprise." She told her brother, "You can take Luke out tomorrow while Reg and I stay here and decorate."

Reggie smiled at the thought, holding her just a bit tighter while Alex began to stress. "But what will I say?"

"Say you want to take him on a date. Duh." Leila rolled her eyes.

Alex blushed at the idea. Luke and Alex had been dating for a month (nearly two) and Alex never failed to blush at the mention of his boyfriend, which Bobby, Reggie, and Leila (mainly Reggie and Leila) may or may not be using to their advantage.

The next day Alex took Luke out on a spontaneous date which definitely shocked Luke who knew his boyfriend rarely did anything spontaneous and was usually more nervous about their dates, while Alex and Luke were off on their date, Reggie and Leila took to decorating their studio just as planned.

Leila was helping Reggie hang the lights above Luke's couch when they first spoke, "So have you really not had a Christmas before?"

Reggie shrugged, avoiding her gaze that pierced the back of his head as he hung the lights, "Not a good one." He told her, "We decorated and all that but that usually ended in screaming."

Leila sighed as Reggie looked down. "What about you, what do you do for Christmas?" Reggie asked changing the subject as he put on a cheery voice.

Leila shrugged. "Not much. We take family photos making us seem like the perfect family," she said bitterly, "our parents throw a Christmas party to show off the house. We don't decorate."

Reggie looked at her in confusion.

A Christmas part without Christmas decorations?

"The house is always decorated." She told him, "Just not by us."

Reggie nodded. "Do you and Alex do anything special?" He asked hoping that would be a better chance of the subject.

Leila smiled fondly. "We used to make each other these silly gifts, I would pick him flowers or pain him something and he would make me a bracelet with whatever we could find around the house." Leila played with the blue and purple string bracelet on her wrist before her smile fell. "We haven't done that in a year or two."

"Why not?" He asked curiously as he continued to string the lights on the wall behind the couch.

Leila sighed. "Nowadays were too busy running from our parents to find the joy in Christmas." She shook her head after a moment as Reggie looked at her sadly, "Let's finish this up before Alex cracks." She offered a weak smile.

Reggie wanted to push it, he wanted her to talk to him, but he didn't because he could see it in her eyes that even if she wanted to, she couldn't talk to him about it yet, so he nodded for her and carried on.

Soon enough the studio was fully decked out, rainbow Christmas lights were strung from the loft to the wall and back and forth in a zig-zag, there were lights behind where their set up was as well as above the couch, there were cheap red stockings with each band members letter on it hung above the couch just below the lights strung on the wall, there was mistletoe hung above the door frame of the studio that Reggie had insisted they get upon seeing it at the store which Leila reluctantly agreed to, thinking she would never get caught under it anyway, and the best part was the 5-6 foot tall Christmas tree sitting in the corner across from the doors (a/n: where Julie's piano usually is) with matching rainbow lights strung on it as well as various colors of ball ornaments mixed with some of the ornaments Reggie had helped pick out like a mic, a guitar, and a music note.

All in all, the studio looked amazing and it fit them but it was more festive.

Leila grinned at Reggie proudly. "It looks amazing Reg." She told him happily.

"Yeah it does, doesn't it?" He responded with a grin as he brought her in for a side hug, his arm around her shoulder as her arm instinctively wrapped around his waist holding onto him without a second thought.

Before Leila could reply, the studio doors opened and they turned around to see Alex and Luke standing there, eyes wide in awe. "What is this?" Luke asked as he looked around.

"We wanted to bring a little bit of cheer to our studio." Leila told him with a grin.

"Our home." Luke corrected.

Leila looked at him in confusion. "Huh?"

Luke chuckled. "You guys have made this more than our studio, you've made it a home, our home." He told them more serious than he usually was as he grinned at his friends while Alex held his hand and nodded.

"This is amazing." Alex told his sister.

And it was, it was so much better and homier than their house ever looked around the Christmas season and that was when Leila realized they were right.

The studio isn't just their studio, it's their home.

"C'mon let's get hot cocoa, it's cold." Luke told them, acting more like himself than he had in weeks.

"I'm buying." Alex told them insistently before Leila could offer, she had already bought the decorations and the tree with her money, it was his turn now.

Alex and Luke being so close to the door already, moved to open the doors and walk out when Leila called out, "Go ahead, I have to get my coat." She quickly went to get her coat from the couch as Alex and Luke continued to leave the studio.

When Leila turned back around, coat in hand, she found Reggie standing there now wearing his leather jacket with a grin on his face. "You could have gone with them, Reg." She told him.

"I wanted to wait for you." Reggie responded.

Leila rolled her eyes but grinned as she went to walk beside him and together they left the studio, only to stop in the door frame when Reggie froze and called out to her.

"Yeah, Reg?" She asked as she turned back, moving to stand in front of him.

Alex and Luke turned around having heard the noise and grinned. "Ooooh!" Luke called, "Mistletoe!"

With wide eyes, Reggie and Leila looked up to find the mistletoe Reggie had insisted on getting right above them. They looked at each other with a blush and Reggie went to say something (anything) when Leila pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek making Luke and Alex pout before turning back and continuing their walk to the closest cafe for hot cocoa expecting their friends to catch up soon.

"Leila." Reggie called softly.

"Yeah, Reg?" Leila asked pausing her movements to go after her brother.

Reggie paused, biting his lip briefly before he sighed and brought her in for a kiss filled with fireworks that warmed their hearts and left them breathless.

When they pulled away, not only were they breathless but they had undeniable redness on their cheeks and freaking tornados in their stomachs, they couldn't believe what had just happened.

Reggie looked at her for a moment shocked by his own actions before he moved to rush away, embarrassed, and expecting the worse.

This time, Leila was the one to call after him. Turning back to her, Reggie didn't know what to expect and then her lips were back on his and he felt like he may melt.

When Leila pulled away she didn't dare utter a word, rushing after Alex and Luke with a blush and leaving Reggie standing there with a blush of his own.

Eventually, Reggie snapped himself out of it and caught up with his friends, hoping they wouldn't notice the blush on his cheeks that didn't seem to go away until the next morning and pretending not to notice the way Leila glanced at him and the blush on her cheeks as she did the same.

They never spoke of it, not even after they became ghosts, it would always be their little Christmas secret.

A special memory belonging only to them.

They both treasured it, more than they thought they should, and every year without fail they would think of that day, remembering it as if it was yesterday but still they never uttered a word about their first kiss under the mistletoe.

Their little Christmas secret indeed.

♪ 𝟸,𝟸𝟾𝟻 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


	36. 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎

♪ 𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅 ♪

Leila was lying on the couch while Luke and Reggie looked over a new song when Julie came into the studio after school, Leila didn't notice the girl at first so when the studio doors closed, she jumped falling onto the floor of the studio with a groan.

"Oh my gosh!" Julie exclaimed rushing over after setting her backpack down by the door. "Are you alright?" She asked ignoring the laughter coming from Luke and Reggie.

Leila nodded with a sheepish grin as she sat up. "I'm fine, Julie, just got spooked." She told the girl who nodded despite her guilt and stood up after Leila.

Leila sat back down on the couch as Julie went over and grabbed the watering can. "So what's going on?" She asked curiously.

"Well, Flynn got us a gig." Julie mentioned casually as she started pouring water onto the nearest plant.

Luke and Reggie jumped at the mention of the gig, excitement in their eyes none of the band members noticing how Leila went silent, her mind going back to the conversation she had with Alex the other day. "What?" Luke asked.

"Where?" Reggie asked anxiously.

"When?" Luke asked not giving Julie a chance to respond.

Julie chuckled, setting down the watering can momentarily as she headed over to the studio doors, picking up her backpack she then went back over to the boys who stood in front of the grand piano, she set down her backpack and opened it, pulling out the flier Flynn gave her before handing it to the boys and going back to watering the plants in the studio.

Reggie picked the flier up before Luke could, looking it over with an excited grin. "We're playing a school dance? Sweet." Reggie said after reading it, showing it to Luke briefly.

"It's not exactly the strip." Luke commented.

Julie chuckled looking back at Luke before watering another plant, on the couch, Leila stayed silent, watching them closely but she couldn't help but roll her eyes at Luke's comment. "And you're not exactly alive." Reggie pointed out looking at the flier again before setting it down and looking at his friend, "So you should be happy we have our first gig, right Lei?" He continued looking at Leila in hopes of getting her talking again but frowned when he only received a nod.

Before Reggie could say or do anything about Leila's silence, Julie spoke, "I wasn't in love with the idea at first either, but it could be a great way for us to build a following, right?"

"Yeah." Reggie agreed, "Yeah. We need to play wherever we can, whenever we can." He told her tapping on the flier as he spoke.

Luke looked back at Julie as he spoke, "No you're right. Let's rock those kids' faces off and then play the clubs."

Julie set down the watering can and walked over to the boys as she spoke, "And then record a single that gets a billion streams?"

"I don't know what that is, but hopefully it lands us a manager and a tour." Luke responded.

"And then we'll release a bunch of hit albums." Julie continued with their plans.

Reggie snapped his fingers, "Put out a country album that does surprisingly well." Julie gave Reggie a look, "I shred on the banjo so..."

"Then I'll learn how to fiddle." Julie told him going along with it, Leila smiled at the display, curling up on the side farthest from the group.

"And then before you know it, we're being inducted into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame," Luke exclaimed getting into it as he slammed his hands onto the piano for dramatic effect, unknowingly making Leila jump behind them.

"But one of us doesn't make it because we had a blowout in 2032." Reggie continued. "My money's on Alex, he's just so sensitive."

Leila snorted, shaking her head. "So what are we waiting for?" Luke asked, "Let's get rehearsing!"

"Uh... where is Alex?" Julie asked curiously.

Luke and Reggie looked at each other and smirked. "He's with his new friend." Luke told her.

"Uhuh, where exactly?" Julie asked, "We can't rehearse without our drummer."

At this, Reggie and Luke looked defeated so Leila stood with a sigh and a stretch before walking over to them, "I know where he might be." She admitted. "I'll get Alex and be right back."

Before any of them could respond, Leila poofed away, knowing just where to look. Well, as long as Willie was the one determining where the newfound ghost buddies would hang out today, that is.

Reggie pouted at her absence, "Man, now we're down a drummer and our best girl." He whined.

Julie raised a brow as Luke chuckled. "They should be back soon, why don't we start tuning, practice a few points?" He suggested.

Julie nodded with a grin. "Sounds good."

Reggie let out an exaggerated sigh at his words. "I guess."

♪ 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙻𝚎𝚒𝚕𝚊... ♪

Leila appeared outside Willie's favorite museum, realizing it was closed she smirked and snuck over to one of the tall windows. Looking in, she found her brother and her best ghost friend standing in the empty museum.

She chuckled, sitting down on the concrete and leaning against the building. She would let them have a moment, and she didn't know if she wanted Willie to know where she had run off to either. She trusted him of course, however, she didn't trust Caleb and knew he would go to whatever length to get what he wanted.

Leila closed her eyes as she listened to her brother and friend scream into the empty museum. Then things went quiet, she looked into the window again and found them talking, Alex said something, Wilie responded and then Alex poofed away.

Leila sighed, standing up. I guess it's time to get back, she thought beginning to walk away when she heard the familiar sound of a ghost poofing behind her before she could turn around or poof away, someone grabbed onto her wrist.

♪ 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘... ♪

Luke and Reggie were playing their guitars to the beat of rock music and Julie joined in right on time, Luke looked over at Reggie before speaking, "One more time."

Reggie finished his guitar just as Alex walked right through the studio doors with a grin. "Oh. Hey, Alex." Reggie greeted.

"Where have you been?" Luke asked before frowning as he noticed that Leila wasn't by the blond's side, "And where's Leila? We need to start practicing."

"Yeah? For what?" Alex asked curiously.

As if on cue, one of the studio doors opened and Flynn walked in, throwing her hands up in the air as she spoke, "Dance news!" She looked at Julie, the only person she could see, "I don't have a date. But I don't care because I'm so psyched to see you guys perform."

"Oh, man! We're playing a dance?" Alex asked not seeming too pleased at the idea.

Luke sat down as he spoke, "Of course dude. That's how we get a following nowadays."

Julie chuckled looking at the only ghost allergic to sleeves, "Yeah get with the program, Alex."

"What?" Flynn exclaimed. "The guys are here?" She tuts before waving in the opposite direction of the boys. "Hey, guys!"

"Other way sweetie." Julie told her friend politely.

Reggie brushed off the moment with ease, looking at the drummer as he set down his bass, "Seriously, where's Leila? Did she make a new ghost friend too?" He smirked teasingly despite hating the idea of Leila going off with some other ghost.

"What?" Alex asked his brows furrowed, he hadn't seen his twin since he left to see Willie.

Flynn turned and waved in the right direction and Reggie and Alex waved back before Luke spoke, "Okay well now that Alex has graced us with his presence, can we start working?"

"Yes!" Julie agreed before looking at her friend to explain, "We're gonna rehearse. You wanna stick around?"

"I'm supposed to blow up five hundred balloons for the school dance, but this sounds way better." Flynn smiled.

Reggie went to ask Alex about Leila again when Julie's little brother, Carlos, came in carrying a tablet. "Hey Julie, remember those orbs in dad's pictures?" He walked right through Alex to get to Julie without even knowing it making Alex frown. "I... I think they're ghosts."

He set a picture down in front of his sister and spoke, "But don't worry," He looked around the room, "This room is..."

While Carlos looked around, Julie picked up the picture he set down to find three bright unmistakable orbs in front of the piano as well as one on the couch. She set down the picture and looked at her brother, "This room is clean. I'm not getting the ghost tinglies."

Reggie grinned. "Wrong again, little dude."

♪♪

Eventually, Carlos left and so did Flynn, leaving the band alone to rehearse.

"Okay, well, should we try this again?" Julie asked.

"Yes please, but remind us later there's some Sunset Curve songs I want to show you." Luke told her with a grin.

This got Julie's interest, she pushed away from her mic as she spoke, "Ooh! Show me now."

Luke immediately rushed to show her the songs with a "Yeah, okay" before he bent down to grab his songbook, his guitar still over his shoulder. There was a song peaking out of the front, "Home is where my horse is?" Luke read, "Reggie, stop putting your country songs in my journal."

Luke took the song out, barely noticing another song that wasn't familiar but he shrugged it off as he stood up, eager to show Julie the songs he thought she would like. "That was a gift." Reggie told him.

"Thanks, buddy." Luke responded carelessly walking towards Julie as he gave her a look almost of disbelief.

"Yeah you should maybe circle back," Reggie went silent as Luke spoke.

"I dog-eared the ones that I think you would slay." He told her as he handed Julie the songbook.

Julie opened the journal, flipping through pages to find a song that piqued her interest, it wasn't in Luke's messy handwriting and it didn't seem to be the band's style either "What's this one?" She asked before reading the title out loud, "Why Haven't I Met You?"

Luke frowned, he didn't recognize that song title. "What?" He asked going over to her and reading over her shoulder, "I gotta be honest, I gotta be honest, hearts been walked on so I'm cautious, I gotta stay cautious..." He frowned. "This is Reggie's handwriting." He pointed out, noticing it immediately when he took a second look. "This isn't a country song."

Reggie's eyes widened as he rushed forward taking the songbook out of Julie's hands and tearing out the pages filled with that song with a blush. "That wasn't supposed to be in there." He told them as an explanation, "I thought I took it out..." He mumbled handing Luke's journal back to Julie without bothering to look at the song on the pages, as long as it wasn't that one he was fine.

Luke went to question Reggie about it when the song on the next page caught Julie's eyes. "Who's Emily?" She asked Luke upon reading the title.

"That one's not dog-eared," Luke told her reaching out for his journal but Julie stood, keeping the journal to her chest so he couldn't take it.

Luke looked on solemnly as Julie looked at the pages, "If you could only know that I'd never let you go." She read aloud, chuckling, "Wow Luke I didn't know you were such a romantic."

Before Luke could reply, Alex walked over and began to speak, "He's not. That one's actually about—"

"No one." Luke cut him off giving Alex a pointed look before looking at Julie, "That's just something that I tried," He reached for the journal again but Julie held it closer, so he tried to distract her, "But if you go to the next dog-eared page, I got a tune that's just," Luke finally relaxed as Julie smiled and flipped the page, "It's got a killer beat."

Luke walked over and began to pluck the strings of his guitar and a rock riff plays with Alex and Reggie bobbing their heads to the familiar beat.

Julie nodded in consideration as she sat back down, "So you want to sample?"

Before anyone could speak, Leila poofed back in, stumbling slightly which was unlike her as she usually poofed perfectly to the boy's jealousy. Leila stumbled right into Reggie who wrapped his arms around her immediately. "Woah," He chuckled, "You alright there?"

Leila looked up and god Reggie hated the look in her eyes, there was far too much pain for the girl he lo- was friends with, she nodded forcing a grin that he didn't believe for a second and a glance back at Alex told him he wasn't believing it either. "Yeah I'm fine," She looked over at Luke and Julie as she stepped away, staying by Reggie's side as he switched to having an arm over her shoulder in an instant, "what's going on here?"

♪ 𝟸,𝟸𝟶𝟹 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 ♪


End file.
